BENGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s aide and Congress MLA from Ramanagara Iqbal Hussain on Saturday said that Shivakumar will become the state’s chief minister on January 6, 2026.
Replying, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Lakshmeshwar, “I will only listen to what the high command says.”
A visibly embarrassed Shivakumar, who is also KPCC president, told reporters at Devanahalli, “I don’t believe what Iqbal has said. He has a habit of making statements like these. Action should be taken against him.” Hussain was earlier served a show-cause notice by the party for issuing a similar statement favouring Shivakumar as CM.
Hussain’s statement came on the eve of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar’s visit to New Delhi to take part in the vote chori rally on Sunday along with high command leaders.
Yathindra’s statement irrelevant: MLA Iqbal
The statement, however, gained traction, especially in the Shivakumar camp with many predicting that the high command would summon both leaders on December 21 or 22 to decide on the change in leadership. By then, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will be back in Delhi after his five-day visit to Germany, where he will address the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) rally in Berlin on December 17, sources said.
“We (DKS’ supporters) will no longer approach the high command as it responded (positively) to our demand. I have said it earlier and I am saying it again. 99%, on January 6 or 9, 2026 DK Shivakumar will become chief minister,” Hussain told reporters in Ramanagara.
Asked about the logic behind the dates he announced, Hussain said 6 and 9 are lucky numbers for Shivakumar.
He said the statement of MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah, who had said his father CM Siddaramaiah would continue in the post for full five years, is irrelevant. “No matter what someone says, we the people of the state and MLAs are demanding that Shivakumar be given a chance. Shivakumar is sure to become CM. We have 140 MLAs and the numbers (in favour of Shivakumar) do not matter as Congress is a disciplined party and everyone is bound by the decision of the high command,” he said.
“We do not have any faction. Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are assets for the party. Our demand is that Shivakumar’s struggle and hard work should be rewarded,” he insisted.