BENGALURU: Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Sunday amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the alleged sting operation targeting him.
Siddaramaiah met Rahul at the residence of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge for around 15 minutes, shortly before participating in the INDIA bloc protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at Ramlila Maidan. However, the two leaders could not hold a one-on-one meeting, according to sources.
Rahul has reportedly given an appointment to Siddaramaiah for Monday, when the former chief minister is likely to discuss the sting operation controversy in detail and its political implications.
Siddaramaiah also met Kharge and interacted with leaders of the INDIA bloc.
Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah participated in the Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations organised at the Karnataka Bhavan. He paid floral tributes to the portrait of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, the presiding deity of Karnataka.
The celebrations were attended by the state government’s representative in Delhi, T B Jayachandra, Karnataka Bhavan Resident Commissioner Sameer Shukla, Assistant Commissioner Mohan, Karnataka MPs and MLAs, besides bhavan staff and their family members.
Meanwhile in Bengaluru, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar declined to comment when reporters sought his reaction to the alleged sting operation, particularly whether a mobile phone exchange had taken place at Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s residence. Shivakumar folded his hands and walked away without responding.