Leadership row: No issues in K'taka Cong to resolve, says DKS; CM puts ball in high command's court

Bengaluru, Dec 22 (PTI) A day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the leadership row involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar was at the local level and not the high command, the deputy CM on Monday said no such confusion exists locally.

Siddaramaiah reiterated that the party high command and top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should decide on the matter and that everyone will abide by it.

After showing signs of abating in the wake of the breakfast diplomacy by the CM and Shivakumar, the leadership row has once again come to the forefront over the past few days.

AICC General Secretary Sachin Pilot sought to play down the power tussle, saying the two top leaders were working like "brothers," even as Shivakumar sought to blame the media over the matter.

"There are no issues to resolve. You (media) are creating issues. I have said what I have to. The chief minister has said what he has to. Kharge has said whatever he has to..." Shivakumar told reporters.

He urged the media not to worry about the party's internal dynamics.

He was responding to a question on Congress president Kharge's statement that the confusion over the leadership issue in the party's Karnataka unit exists only at the local level and not with the party high command.

Kharge had also said that the local leaders should take ownership of the internal disputes rather than blaming the high command.

The power tussle has intensified amid speculations of a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20. The speculation was fuelled by a "power-sharing" pact between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah said that ultimately, Rahul Gandhi and the party high command have to take a decision on the CM change issue, and everyone will abide by their decision.

He said that he has spoken to the high command, and the leadership have told him that they will decide.

"I don't know about it. Rahul Gandhi and the high command have to decide. Whatever they decide, I'm committed to it," he told reporters in Mysuru in response to a question on Kharge's statement.

"I have spoken to the high command. They have said that they will decide. I will abide by whatever the high command decides," he said.

Alleging that the media was discussing the leadership issue, despite clarifications that the high command will decide on the matter and everyone will abide by it, he said, "What is there to ask so many questions on the issue? After I have said whatever I have to in the Assembly, why still discuss this?" On Friday, the CM had asserted on the floor of the Assembly that he would continue in office. He had also said that the Congress high command was "in my favour" and asserted that no decision was made on his staying at the helm for only two-and-a-half years.

When pointed out about buzz in the political circles about "political revolution" after Sankranti (mid-January), Siddaramaiah on Monday said, ultimately, the high command has to take a decision.

"Everything is over.....I'm saying it once and for all, ultimately, the high command has to make a decision. Everyone will abide by whatever the high command decides." Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Pilot, who was in Bengaluru sought to play down the power tussle.

Speaking to reporters here in the company of Shivakumar, he said, "When PCC (state Congress) President (Shivakumar) has called the chief minister his elder brother, and the chief minister says he (deputy CM) is my younger brother, that settles the matter." Responding to a question on the high command "not solving" the leadership issue in the state, while pointing out that a similar power tussle existed in Rajasthan between him and the then CM Ashok Gehlot, Pilot said that everyone will abide by whatever decision is taken by the leadership of the party. "We will work together." "Tell me which leader of the party, whether it is the chief minister or the Pradesh Congress Committee President, has said that they will not abide by the party high command's decision. When everything is left to the Congress high command, the party will decide whatever it has to. Our collective objective is to strengthen the Congress across the country, including Karnataka," he added.

Meanwhile, state Home Minister G Parameshwara echoed Kharge when he said any differences or confusions within the party over the leadership issue in the state have to be resolved locally.

Noting that Kharge had asked state leaders to resolve the differences locally, the home minister, responding to a question, said, "That is the message (from Congress chief). What can I comment on it?" "Everyone of us should know, we should resolve ourselves. If the All India Congress president says that you (state leaders) resolve yourself and have nothing to do with the high command, we all have to sit together and resolve," he added. PTI KSU ADB KH ROH SA