NEW DELHI – Unconfirmed reports suggest the Congress high command has requested Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to transition from state leadership to national politics. According to party sources, Siddaramaiah has been offered a Rajya Sabha berth from Karnataka and a more prominent role within the party's Delhi framework as part of ongoing internal discussions regarding the state's future leadership.
This development follows a high-level meeting held at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. Attendees included Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary KC Venugopal, and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala.
Following the meeting, KC Venugopal addressed reporters, firmly denying any discussions about a change in leadership. He stated that the nearly two-hour meeting was exclusively dedicated to strategizing for the upcoming Rajya Sabha and Karnataka Legislative Council elections. “Today’s discussion was only around Rajya Sabha polls and MLC elections. Whatever you speculated is not true,” Venugopal asserted, urging an end to speculation.
Despite the official denial, the meeting has reignited discussions surrounding the Congress's internal power-sharing arrangement in Karnataka. Supporters of DK Shivakumar have consistently claimed that he was promised the chief minister's position following the party's decisive victory in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The formal agenda of the recent gathering included planning for the four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka that are soon to fall vacant. The Congress anticipates securing three of these seats, with the BJP expected to win one.