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Karnataka CM post tiff not over? DKS points to Delhi as ‘temple’ as high command to take final call
CM Siddaramaiah and deputy Shivakumar are locked in a tussle over the top post in the Congress govt
A day after his breakfast visit to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's residence, and a combined press meet to project unity, deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Sunday hinted at a visit to Delhi — another sign that the tussle over the top post in the Congress government may not be totally over.
DKS first said the weather in Bengaluru is "beautiful", indicating no rift within the party, but added when asked about Delhi, , where the party's “high command” sits: “For Congressmen, going to Delhi is like going to a temple. It is quite natural. Whenever we need to, we go there.”
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“Because of the weather in Bengaluru, everyone would like to come to Bengaluru. It is just like Shimla,” he said, as per ANI, likening the Karnataka capital to the capital of Himachal Pradesh, where too the Congress is in power.
Asked pointedly about the tussle, earlier in the day, he said, “There are no differences between me and the CM. Being the state unit president, I know my limits… Nowhere have I made any comments or expressed a difference of opinion with the CM. We are all working together."
The tussle is fueled by a "power-sharing agreement" — the half-term-each formula never officially confirmed by the party — between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
The government completed half its term on November 20. Sources have told HT that Siddaramaiah has told Shivakumar he can take over from the next assembly polls onwards as the state's top Congress leader.
The deputy CM added on Sunday, “Our aim is 2028 (state election) and 2029 (Lok Sabha election), and we are working for it. The CM and I will work out a strategy. We want to call an all-party meeting on various issues.”
On Saturday, after an hour-long breakfast meeting, both leaders had reiterated their commitment to the party leadership's directives. The “high command” essentially means the Gandhis — Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka — and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who was in Bengaluru recently and said there was not need to discuss intra-party issues in public.
(with ANI inputs)
