NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing power tussle in Karnataka, Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday intervened for the first time, holding talks with senior Congress leaders in the national capital.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal were also present in the meeting, which lasted for around three hours.
According to sources, no decision emerged from the meeting, while it was officially described as a review of the “current political situation." The leadership is expected to meet again, likely on December 14 or 15.
According to insiders, the leaders are expected to meet after the Congress mega rally on ‘vote theft’ scheduled on December 14 at the Ramlila ground in Delhi. The leaders have decided that there should be no disturbance to the government until the next meeting.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who are at the centre of the row, are also expected to attend the discussions, a party leader familiar with the developments said.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Venugopal said that the Karnataka issue was discussed in the meeting. “There was a general discussion on the current political situation, including Karnataka. But nothing concrete emerged today. There will be another discussion on Karnataka”, he said. Incidentally, this is the first time the top leader has publicly acknowledged the ongoing developments, as such concerns were routinely dismissed in the past.
The meeting came after Venugopal’s closed-door meeting with Siddaramaiah in Mangaluru early this week, though the details of their discussion remain unknown. In recent days, Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar have sought to project a united front with ‘breakfast diplomacy’ to reassure party workers that ‘all is well’ between them. The meeting held over breakfast was reportedly at the behest of Venugopal to ease tensions between the two leaders and to project a show of unity ahead of the upcoming leadership deliberations.