BENGALURU: Even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar projected a united front with breakfast diplomacy, the leadership change issue is likely to resurface after the Belagavi session concludes on December 19.
The winter session of Parliament also concludes on the same day.
The Siddaramaiah camp is reportedly preparing to counter Shivakumar, who may rekindle the issue of a power-sharing pact struck when the party came to power in 2023. They are drawing up several plots, including playing the Dalit CM card if it becomes inevitable for Siddaramaiah to step down.
CWC permanent invitee BK Hariprasad is likely to meet senior leader Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and convince her of the need to maintain status quo, according to sources.
He met AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal in Mangaluru during Sri Narayan Guru’s event on Wednesday, along with Siddaramaiah. On his return, he held talks with Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara and PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi at the latter’s residence in Bengaluru.
Former cooperation minister and Siddaramaiah’s aide KN Rajanna reiterated that if it’s inevitable for Siddaramaiah to step down, Dr G Parameshwara should be made the CM. Interestingly, Rajanna’s MLC-son Rajendra met Union Minister Pralhad Joshi in Delhi a couple of days ago. His recent meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah had set off ripples in political circles.
However, Rajanna maintained that his son being a senior KRIBHCO director had met Shah in that capacity. According to highly-placed sources, some North Karnataka Congress legislators were also seeking an audience with Shah. They want to secure their political future and switch sides ahead of the 2028 assembly polls, as Siddaramaiah would not be as influential as he used to be as AHINDA leader in 2023, sources observed.