The political turmoil has thickened in Karnataka, with top Congress leaders suggesting that it could be Siddaramaiah’s time to go soon, and strong speculations that Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar may be his successor.
Congress MLA Ashok Kheny Pattan, after meeting with Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, stated that Siddaramaiah “might resign after 3 PM on Thursday.” Pattan also said that there was a “100 percent possibility” of Shivakumar becoming the next chief minister, but he added that the final decision would be up to the Congress high command.
Senior Congress legislator R. V. Deshpande was said to have informed party colleagues that Siddaramaiah had already informed him that he was thinking of resigning. The developments follow a succession of marathon sessions held in New Delhi among leading Congress leaders like party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, organisation general secretary K. C. Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala.
The Congress hierarchy is mulling several possibilities to remain politically balanced in the unit, sources said. One of the suggestions on the table is to appoint several deputy chief ministers along with a leadership change to please various factions within the party.
As of now, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have not made any official statement about any change. But the heavy political stir and declarations by the party MLAs have raised the question of immediate change of leadership in Karnataka.