Siddaramaiah ‘pushed’ to step aside amid Congress huddle in Delhi, weighing options

THe us congress attempted to solve a long-standing impasse in mysore with battle of marathon meetings on Tuesday between the party leadership and chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, with people aware of the matter saying the high command pushed the former to step aside but he was weighing his options.Officially, the party said discussions were on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and polls in the Karnataka legislative council. Siddaramaiah, too, denied reports that discussions had taken place on changing the CM. But the people cited above said party chief Mallikarjun Kharge told Siddaramaiah that the latter needed to step down and make way for a new leadership. However, the 77-year-old leader refused to acquiesce immediately and instead asked for two days to decide.The people cited above also said that Siddaramaiah was reluctant to hand over duties to Shivakumar but was told by Kharge that the choice of successor was not his.Also Read | Siddaramaiah's Rajya Sabha move likely, but Shivakumar may still not be CM: What next in Karnataka?Through the day, Siddaramaiah met party general secretary organisation KC Venugopal, general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala and Kharge, and then met senior leader Rahul Gandhi. Shivakumar met all but wasn’t present in any meeting with CM.Several Karnataka ministers had flown down to Delhi on Tuesday. Publicly, the party attempted to project unity. “Today, the entire discussion was only concentrated on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and council elections of Karnataka. Whatever speculation you people are doing, that is only speculation, no reality at all. Today we discussed the Rajya Sabha seats and the council seats of Karnataka,” Venugopal told the media, flanked by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.HT spoke to at least three leaders, privy to details and representing various factions, who said this was to accord Siddaramaiah the respect a chief minister deserved.After the meetings, Siddaramaiah went to his associate and state minister KJ George’s residence. Asked about any leadership change, he said, “It is only a speculation”.Asked if there was any discussion on leadership change, he replied, “No”. On a possible cabinet reshuffle, the CM said, “It did not come up for discussion.”After the Congress won its biggest victory in a generation in Karnataka in 2023, the government has been mired in tensions over the top post. Siddaramaiah, a two-time chief minister who built a grassroots coalition of backwards, Dalits and Muslims that propelled the Congress a rare victory against the Bharatiya Janata Party, had agreed to a power swap halfway through the five-year tenure but has till now blocked Shivakumar, the party’s main troubleshooter and poll financier, said the people cited above.Now, with about two years to go for the next assembly elections and the government in doldrums, the Congress is hoping to set its house in order.HT had reported on Tuesday that Siddaramaiah might be presented with a formula where he steps aside in return for a Rajya Sabha seat and a possible cabinet position for his son Yathindra — a member of the state legislative council — in return.Four Rajya Sabha seats, including that of Kharge, are going to the polls from Karnataka in June, and the Congress is expected to win three of them.In the course of the day, Siddaramaiah was told in the first meeting with Venugopal, Surjewala and Kharge – HT had reported how all three were in favour of change – and Rahul Gandhi that he had a great run, and it was now time to hand over to a new generation, said the people cited above. In the otherwise cordial meeting, the focus was on convincing Siddaramaiah to quit on a high and drive home the point that change was needed ahead of the 2028 assembly polls, the people added. One person aware of details said that the CM came prepared with a presentation of all his achievements and reasons he should stay on. He then asked for a one-on-one meeting with Rahul Gandhi before lunch. The meeting lasted a half an hour, the person said.In the meeting, Rahul Gandhi asked Siddaramaiah about the performance of the government and the CM made his case, after which Rahul Gandhi left, and the others were joined by Shivakumar for lunch, the people cited above said.After lunch, Kharge told Siddaramaiah that Shivakumar was the leadership’s choice and according to one of the persons cited above, Siddaramaiah expressed his disapproval. When Kharge – who is learnt to have used examples from his own career to try and convince the CM – requested Siddaramaiah to consider coming to the Rajya Sabha, the latter didn’t accept the offer and asked for two days to revert to the top brass, the people cited above said.In the evening, Siddaramaiah called a meeting of ministers close to him at a house in Sunder Nagar. According to two leaders present in the meeting, the CM indicated he will not resign before the Rajya Sabha elections.(With inputs from Arun Dev in Bengaluru)