Dy CM’s Remark On Sonia Adds To Suspense
BENGALURU: With the leadership tussle in Karnataka seeing dramatic twists and turns by the hour, chief minister Siddaramaiah – following a nudge from the Congress high command – on Friday invited his deputy, DK Shivakumar, to a breakfast meeting on Saturday.Siddaramaiah said the high command had spoken to both netas and directed them to meet. “I’ve invited Shivakumar for breakfast at 9am. If he comes, I’ll discuss (the issue) with him,” he said, adding he would obey the high command.A senior party functionary in Delhi said both politicians had been asked to resolve the issue through discussions. “If they don’t, then the high command will intervene,” he said.Another state functionary said the party wanted the two to present “a mutually agreed solution” to the high command, which it would endorse if both were on board.A day after posting a cryptic message on social media, Shivakumar Friday fired a new salvo – that of sacrifice, after promise – by invoking Sonia Gandhi’s decision to forgo the prime ministership while recommending Manhoman Singh’s name in 2004.Even as he lauded Sonia’s leadership, Shivakumar took the opportunity to reach out to voters, urging them to continue backing the Siddaramaiah-led Congress govt. He appealed for public support in the 2028 assembly elections, describing stability as crucial for the party’s long-term plans. While the remarks were framed as praise for Sonia, they triggered a debate within political circles over the message Shivakumar intended to convey. The comments sparked speculation whether he was subtly signalling that Siddaramaiah should make way (sacrifice) for him, or whether he was projecting himself as someone willing to “sacrifice” his chief ministerial claim.Former CM and Union minister M Veerappa Moily criticised the power tussle, calling the situation “practically an anarchy”. In an interaction with a news agency, Moily said the open confrontation had caused “national embarrassment” and blamed Congress high command for “allowing the situation to worsen”. He warned that the party, already weak in many states, could struggle to stay in govt in the state if the “manufactured crisis” was not addressed.Meanwhile, a day after Adichunchanagiri Mutt’s Nirmalananda Swami visited Shivakumar, another prominent Vokkaliga seer, Brahmeshwara Mutt pontiff Gurugunda Nanjavadutha Swami, called on him and publicly backed him for the CM’s post.
