Cong holds two-day conclave in poll-bound state

With the news of the differences between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah making frequent rounds in the political circles, the party members are worried about their reconciliation especially before the 2023 assembly elections.

The Congress is holding a two-day Nava Sankalp Shivir in Bengaluru to chart out a roadmap for the upcoming state elections and address the alleged cold war between Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Shivakumar and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah , an official in the know of the matter said on Thursday.

Congress is holding a two-day Nava Sankalp Shivir in Bengaluru. (HT Photo)

With the news of the differences between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah making frequent rounds in the political circles, the party members are worried about their reconciliation especially before the 2023 assembly elections.

At least two legislators of the Congress who attended the first of the Shivir said that the duo should set their differences aside and focus on working together for the elections next year.

“The most important thing most of the workers want is that they (Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah) reconcile their differences,” said a legislator from the Congress, requesting anonymity.

The Congress is hopeful of returning to power in 2023 as it believes that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under chief minister Basavaraj Bommai-led government has given it enough ammunition to attack and corner the administration over issues like corruption, lack of development and increase in communal violence cases to help consolidate its support base.

It is no secret that both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are both eyeing the chief minister’s post in the next year’s elections, should the party manages to get a majority on its own.

“The central leadership should have called both the leaders and discussed a compromise formula that would help. But nothing has happened so far,” said a Congress worker, directly aware of the developments.

Supporters of Siddaramaiah like Zameer Ahmed Khan and TB Jayachandra among others have openly backed the leader as the ‘next chief minister’ of Karnataka which has not gone down well with Shivakumar who has been unable to contain the open airing of views on the contentious topic.

“If anyone wants to discuss the internal issues of the party, then there is an opportunity to do it personally with me, the legislature party leader (Siddaramaiah) or the general secretary, anyone can talk to me about the same. Whatever is discussed within the committees should not be revealed to the media,” Shivakumar said on Thursday at the two-day conference.

Aiming to devise a strategy for the upcoming polls, the Congress formed six broad committees, including economic affairs and price rise; social justice and empowerment; organisation, farmers and agriculture; youth women education and employment; political affairs and AICC implementation.

Congress national general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka unit Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday said that the party will release a ‘Karnataka declaration’ on Friday evening after the conclusion ceremony of the two-day event.