NEW DELHI: Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday dismissed the reports regarding any “CM change talks” with the discussions with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He further provided details of the meeting and said that the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha asked them to “continue the good work”.“I am Karnataka’s Congress president, and he is the leader of the opposition. These meetings and talks are as per protocol; all this cannot be discussed in public… There are no such discussions (CM change). Rahul Gandhi has asked us to continue the good work, and we will work accordingly,” DK Shivakumar said.
The clarification came after a media buzz was created as Shivakumar shared a picture of the brief meeting with Rahul Gandhi and wrote a cryptic post: “Even if the effort fails, the prayer does not fail.”Congress MLA Ashok Pattan said that Rahul told Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar to go to Delhi, probably after Sankrant, stating that “everything will be fine after CM DCM’s visit to Delhi.”“Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi told both of them (CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar) to go to Delhi. The date has not been fixed yet. After fixing the date, both of them will go there,” ANI quoted Pattan saying.The exclusive interaction between Rahul and DKS took place at Mysuru airport on Tuesday. The meeting reignited speculation about a possible leadership change in the state, even as chief minister Siddaramaiah denied that politics was discussed. Rahul arrived at Mandakalli airport around 2 pm en route to Gudalur in Tamil Nadu and was received by both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who had traveled together. Within minutes, Rahul departed by helicopter, while the chief minister and his deputy left the airport separately.Later in the day, Rahul returned to Mysuru earlier than expected before heading to Delhi. Shivakumar arrived at the airport ahead of him and held a three-minute one-on-one conversation with Rahul on the tarmac. Siddaramaiah later joined them, after which Rahul briefly interacted with both leaders before leaving around 5.45pm on a special flight.After the Congress’s landslide victory in the 2023 Assembly elections, the party high command faced a dilemma in choosing the chief minister. Siddaramaiah was ultimately appointed CM due to his seniority, administrative experience, and mass appeal. However, it was widely believed that an internal understanding had been reached under which Shivakumar would assume the top post midway through the government’s five-year term.Also read: Two breakfasts later, Sidda–DKS standoff persists — why it’s a Catch-22 situation for Congress high command
