Siddaramaiah’s announcement amid internal tussle in Congress, said- ‘I will remain the Chief Minister’

Amid the ongoing discussions over leadership in Karnataka politics, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday clearly said that there has been no power-sharing agreement of any kind between him and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar for “two and a half years”. On the last day of the Karnataka Assembly session held in Belagavi, he completely rejected the allegations of the opposition and said that until the top leadership of the Congress takes a different decision, he will remain the Chief Minister of the state.

Siddaramaiah addressed the opposition leaders

Addressing the opposition leaders, Siddaramaiah said that the Chief Minister is selected according to a fixed process. First the public gives the mandate, after that the leader is elected in the legislative party meeting and finally the party high command ratifies that decision. He made it clear that under this process, he is currently the Chief Minister and until any new instructions come from the party leadership, he will continue to fulfill his responsibilities.

When Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashok raised questions on the alleged agreement of “two and a half years”, Siddaramaiah gave a blunt reply. He said that neither he ever said anything like this nor has there been any such agreement in Congress. According to him, this entire discussion is baseless and based on political rumours.

It is noteworthy that for the last few months, there has been confusion regarding leadership within the Congress Party. Discussions regarding the balance of power have been intense between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. After the completion of half the tenure of the government, some Congress MLAs had also reached Delhi demanding change of leadership, which further fueled the speculations.

However, the top leadership of Congress tried to handle the situation and advised both the senior leaders to communicate among themselves. To calm the controversy, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met on different occasions and also discussed over breakfast. Both the leaders publicly said that they would accept every decision of the party high command. He also held a joint press conference to give the message of unity in the party.

Bharatiya Janata Party targets Congress

Bharatiya Janata Party has targeted Congress on this entire incident. BJP alleged that due to internal tussle, the development of the state and the interests of the people are being ignored. BJP leader and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister are adamant on their stand, due to which the party leadership may have to consider other options. He also indicated that a new and unexpected face may emerge in Karnataka politics in future.