BENGALURU: The Congress high command seems to have arrived at a juncture that it can no longer put on hold the decision to clear the confusion over leadership change or cabinet reshuffle in the state. Many senior Congress leaders, including some ministers, believe that the party central leadership will end uncertainty by May-end.
Party sources said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar are likely to be called to New Delhi over the next few days to put an end to an issue that has hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa hinted at the high command taking the decision soon. “By this month-end, the decision will be made. Whatever must happen will happen. They (the high command) will find a solution to all this...,” he said, asked whether there will be a change in leadership or cabinet reshuffle.
Congress functionaries privately admit that the confusion over change in leadership that has lingered since November 2025, when the government reached the midway mark, has damaged the image of both the government and party.
They suggested that the high command, especially Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, should not take more time to settle the issue as the polls to five states have gotten over and the party has formed the UDF government in Kerala.
Sources said AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, during a casual talk with AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Monday, expressed his intention to resolve the Karnataka issue.
Siddaramaiah sympathisers try to reason that with leaders from forward communities becoming chief ministers in Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, the high command will not risk its fortunes in Karnataka by dethroning a backward class leader.
If a change is inevitable, a Dalit leader would be the option, they hoped. Sympathisers of Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara are upbeat that he could become either CM or DCM if the high command asks Siddaramaiah to vacate the post or gives him the go-ahead to create more DCM posts and reshuffle the cabinet.
They expect clarity to emerge by May 28 or May 29 when the CM is likely to visit Delhi then and meet Rahul. Shivakumar told the media on Wednesday, “He (Rahul) said he would call me. I will go when I am called.”
“Is Rajanna going to change the CM? There is nothing wrong in saying that the CM should continue. If he wants Parameshwar to be made the CM, does he mean that the CM should step down? Have I ever said the CM should be changed? I never said that,” he said, responding to a question on former minister KN Rajanna’s statement that if the CM is to be changed, Parameshwara should be made CM.
“You (media) people are cooking up stories. I have never asked anyone for wages,” he replied when asked whether or not he wants a reward for his efforts to bring the party to power in the state in 2023.
Shivakumar said during the lunch meeting at Energy Minister KJ George’s residence on Monday, attended by Kharge and Siddaramaiah, they discussed state politics and how to bring the party back to power.
According to some senior leaders, the party is unlikely to take any decision before the elections to seven MLC seats from the Assembly and four RS seats. Also, Rahul is expected to travel abroad soon, the sources said.
GBA and RS polls
Even as Congress leaders expect the confusion to end over the change in leadership, political analysts said it may prolong for three more months. They cited the polls to seven MLC seats from the Assembly and four RS seats, which will be declared in June first or second week.
Also, the polls to five city corporations under GBA will be completed by August. Until then, the high command is unlikely to take any decision, which is a blessing in disguise for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, they remarked.
“But these issues will not have any bearing on the Congress high command’s decision as the government has completed three years in office,” remarked a Congress functionary. “The decision demands urgency as further delay will not help the government or the party,” he remarked.
