Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar on Saturday sought to project a united front after days of uncertainty over a possible change in leadership, holding a breakfast meeting at the CM’s residence ‘Kaveri’ and then addressing a joint press conference.
Siddaramaiah dismissed reports of rifts within the Congress, insisting there was “no confusion” in the government or the party. “As far as I know, some MLAs want to become ministers, so they might have gone to meet the high command. That does not mean they are against the leadership,” he said, adding that several legislators had already explained to him why they travelled to Delhi.
Reiterating that both he and Shivakumar would abide by the party’s central leadership on all matters, Siddaramaiah said, “Whatever the high command says, we will go by that. We have decided that we will follow whatever the high command says. There will be no confusion from tomorrow. There is still no confusion—some media reporters have created the confusion.”
Taking aim at the Opposition, Siddaramaiah said the BJP and JD(S) were spreading “false allegations” and making empty claims about moving a no-confidence motion. “They are only 60 and the JD(S) is 18. They cannot match our numbers. We are 140. This is a futile exercise. We will confront their false allegations,” he said.
Shivakumar, seated beside him, backed his remarks and said the two had also discussed organisational priorities. Siddaramaiah added, “Our agenda is the 2028 elections. Local body elections are important. We discussed them. We also discussed bringing Congress back in 2028. We will go together. There are no differences between us and there will be no differences in the future.”
Asked about the tone of the meeting itself, Siddaramaiah played it down: “The breakfast was good. We didn’t talk about anything there. We just had breakfast. DKS came to our house today… and he has invited me to his house.”
The show of unity comes a day after the Congress high command intervened and asked both leaders to resolve the leadership issue through direct dialogue as the government crossed its two-and-a-half-year mark on November 20.
Reiterating his loyalty to the party leadership, Shivakumar said, “As far as the leadership issue is concerned, we follow our party high command. Whatever they say, it is our decision. We have been loyal soldiers of the party. We know that the party is going through difficult times in our country. But we are confident that Karnataka will play a major role, we will repeat government in 2028, and move forward in 2029 as well under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul.”
Pointing to the massive mandate the Congress received, he added: “We have worked together. The people of Karnataka have given us a massive mandate. It is our responsibility to fulfill all the promises we made to the people of Karnataka. Today, we discussed our strategy for the 2028 assembly elections and how to deal with the opposition. They may try to raise many issues. We are prepared to respond.”
Shivakumar on Saturday reached Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's residence 'Kaveri' for a breakfast meeting intended to break the logjam over the leadership issue.
Later in the day, Shivakumar is expected to leave for Delhi to brief the party high command, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
While Siddaramaiah has been asserting that he has got a mandate to remain as the chief minister for a full five-year term, Shivakumar has claimed that he was promised that he will be made the CM after two-and-half years on a rotational basis.
The issue of change of leadership had been going on for the past two months but intensified after November 20 when the Congress government completed two-and-half years.
The Congress high command on Friday intervened and asked the two leaders to resolve the issue by talking to each other.
Accordingly, Siddaramaiah on Friday invited his deputy to come home for a breakfast meeting.
Before leaving for the CM's residence, Shivakumar declined to comment and said he would speak after coming out of Siddaramaiah's residence.
A photo from the meeting showing the two leaders sharing upma, idli and sambar soon circulated, signalling that relations between them remain cordial despite the ongoing tussle.
On Thursday, Shivakumar posted on X, “Keeping one's word is the greatest strength in the world! Word power is world power... The biggest force in the world was to keep one's word."
"Be a judge, president or anyone else, including myself, everyone has to walk the talk. Word power is world power," his post read.
His comments were seen as a reference to the rumoured 2023 power-sharing agreement, when both he and Siddaramaiah were contenders for the chief minister’s post after the Congress won the Assembly elections.
Soon after Shivakumar’s cryptic message, Siddaramaiah did not back down, responding with a cryptic post of his own, stating, “A word is not power unless it betters the world for the people.”
His post further read, "The mandate given by the people of Karnataka is not a moment, but a responsibility that lasts five full years," which was seen as a direct message to his deputy.
The very public exchange reportedly did not sit right with the Congress leadership, who contacted the two senior leaders to put up a united front.
On Friday evening, in another post on X, Siddaramiah wrote, “The party seniors have called me and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and instructed us to meet. Therefore, I have invited him for breakfast, where we will discuss the matter.”
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)