Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that there is no rift between him and his deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, saying they are working together to run the government and will keep doing so going forward.
Reiterating that both of them will abide by the decision of the Congress high command on the leadership issue, he said, Shivakumar will become the CM, when the high command decides, PTI reported.
In an apparent display of unity, Siddaramaiah on Tuesday visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two broke bread in the wake of a raging power tussle.
“This understanding will always be there. There are no differences. D K Shivakumar and I are united; we run the government unitedly. In the future also we will run the government unitedly,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here after the breakfast meeting.
When will Shivakumar become Karnataka CM?
On the leadership issue, he said, as decided in the previous breakfast meeting organised at the CM’s residence on Saturday, both of them will abide by the high command’s decision.
So far, there is no communication from the high command on the timeline for any decision on the matter. The CM, in response to a question said, “If they (high command) call us, we will definitely go and meet them. Tomorrow, I will be meeting AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal at a function, where both of us are invited.”
Asked when Shivakumar will become the CM, Siddaramaiah said, “When the high command says.”
Stating that he was invited by Shivakumar for breakfast, he said, after the breakfast, he and Deputy CM discussed regarding the upcoming legislature session starting from December 8 at Belagavi and the strategy to be adopted, also on organising a meeting of MPs from Karnataka in Delhi during the ongoing Parliament session on December 8 to discuss on issues concerning the state.
Regarding the cabinet reshuffle, Siddaramaiah said, the high command has to take a decision on it. Shivakumar, replying to a question, said that all MLAs are united in the Congress party and there are no differences.
Following the initial breakfast meeting on Saturday, at the CM’s official residence, as part of an attempt by the Congress high command to break the logjam over the leadership row involving the two leaders, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had publicly stated that “there won’t be any confusion”, and that they would obey the high command on the leadership issue.
The breakfast meetings are seen as a move by the high command to pause the leadership tussle between the two and signal Siddaramaiah’s continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session from December 8.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculations about a change in chief minister in the state after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
The speculation was fuelled by talks of a ‘power-sharing’ agreement said to have been arrived at while the party was elected to power in 2023.
