BENGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar, who is on a two-day trip to New Delhi, said that he cannot publicly disclose details of his meetings in the national capital.
“I meet everyone when I come to Delhi. Should I not? But I cannot reveal who all I met. You (media) report that I was made to wait by the high command leaders. So, I must be waiting,” Shivakumar told reporters sarcastically in Delhi on Monday.
He informed that he will be hosting a dinner for Karnataka Congress legislators in Bengaluru on Tuesday on the occasion of him completing six years as KPCC president. “I am hosting a dinner party for the MLAs and MLCs. I will organise a dinner for the party’s defeated candidates (of the 2023 Assembly polls) and district Congress and block presidents on a later day,” he said.
Shivakumar, who represents Kanakapura in the Assembly, said there is no need for any discussion on the leadership issue. He added that the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting will be held in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
“There was a wedding in my friend’s family, hence I came to Delhi on Sunday. I also met the Assam Pradesh Congress chief today,” Shivakumar, who is the party’s observer for the Assam elections, said.
He said a list of 43 candidates for the Assam polls has been released already, clarifying that he was not part of the screening committee meeting to select the candidates that was held on Monday.
Shivakumar, who took part in the inauguration of several development works in Kalaburagi on Sunday, flew to Delhi with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.
According to informed sources, Shivakumar, who completed six years as KPCC chief, sought an appointment from LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to pay a courtesy call, but it was in vain. Shivakumar had deferred his return to Bengaluru and even skipped the session. It is to be seen whether he meets Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, as the latter boosted his morale by appointing him as the KPCC president six years ago after he spent 50 days in Tihar jail following his arrest by the ED in a money laundering case.
Replying to Shivakumar staying back in Delhi on Monday, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi said, “No issue... let him be in Delhi. Here, we are taking care of things on his behalf (in the government)”.