PTI | Bengaluru/New Delhi
Amid speculation over leadership change in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said the issue will be resolved after discussions with senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, while deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar claimed there is unity in the party.
As the Congress government in Karnataka completed the halfway mark of its five-year tenure on November 20, the power tussle within the party has intensified over a possible change of guard in the state, with a section claiming an alleged “power-sharing” agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.
“The high command – myself, Rahul ji and Sonia ji will together take a decision on the issue and resolve it,” Kharge told PTI, when asked about the issue of leadership change in Karnataka.
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge dismissed as “irrelevant,” a section of party leaders pitching his father Mallikarjun Kharge for the CM post amid the leadership issue.
Talk of a leadership tussle in the Congress government in Karnataka intensified and MLAs started seeking meetings with the leadership.
, Siddaramaiah has put the onus on the party high command to put a “full stop to the confusion”.
Karnataka minister Satish Jarkiholi seemed to back Siddaramaiah, saying he has asked the high command to clear the air at the earliest on the issue of leadership.
“There is no discussion about leadership change in the party. Once it comes up, then we will discuss but there is no discussion about it in the party right now,” the minister said.
Jarkiholi said he will seek time and meet Kharge to discuss this issue and to tell him his opinion.
Shivakumar, however, claimed that the party is united and is focused on the 2028 assembly and 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
