Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday played down the tussle between Siddharamaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar over the chief ministerial post, saying that the party will resolve the “confusion as soon as possible.“This comes a day after Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara’s said that everyone in the ruling Congress party will welcome, if Kharge becomes the chief minister.While taking to reporters, Kharge rubbished the speculations and said that Sonia Gandhi takes decisions regarding him.“You (media), he (Parameshwara) and people at the top say that it is better if I become (the chief minister). But, more than fate, as per my ideology and as per my service to the party so far, Sonia Gandhi takes decisions regarding me,” he said.“But, that question does not arise now. There is already a chief minister here. If Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and I, together, have to take any decision in the direction of a change, it will take some time. Let’s wait and see,” he added.Supporters of deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar have been insisting on his on his elevation in lines with a rumoured power-sharing agreement with CM Siddaramaiah when the party won the 2023 assembly polls.Amid speculations about the leadership change in Karnataka, Parameshwara said on Wednesday that everyone in the ruling Congress party will welcome, if Kharge, a senior politician with a lot of experience, becomes the chief minister.A power struggle between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar intensified as soon as the Congress government in Karnataka completed its halfway mark in November last year. Several MLAs and MLCs from DKS camped in Delhi to push the party high command to make him the next chief minister.DK Shivakumar added to the speculations after he claimed that there had indeed been “a confidential understanding on leadership transition among five-six leaders” soon after Congress won a landslide in the 2023 elections.The deputy chief minister made the first reference to the power pact but stopped short of divulging more details. “This is confidential. I don’t want to speak publicly on this,” he said.The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025. The speculation has been fuelled by the reported “power-sharing” arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar at the time of government formation in 2023.After Congress won in Karnataka assembly in 2023, party high command was in a fix over the CM face. After days of deliberation, the party went ahead with Siddaramaiah’s name given his seniority and popularity. However, an agreement was reportedly reached that DK Shivakumar would take over the reins in the second half of the government.
