More Karnataka Cong legislators backing Shivakumar travel to Delhi

Bengaluru: Another batch of legislators backing Deputy Chief Minister D K Sivakumar have flown to New Delhi to meet Congress high command leaders, amid a power tussle within the ruling party in Karnataka over the CM change issue, party sources said on Monday.

According to sources, at least six legislators have landed in the national capital on Sunday night.

Few more legislators are likely to travel soon, to pitch for Shivakumar as CM, they said.

The power tussle within the ruling party has intensified, amid speculation about chief minister change in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, citing an alleged "power-sharing" agreement involving CM Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.

Among the legislators in Delhi include MLAs H C Balakrishna (Magadi), K M Uday (Maddur), Nayana Motamma (Mudigere), Iqbal Hussain (Ramanagara), Sharath Bachegowd (Hosakote), and Shivaganga Basavaraj (Channagiri), party sources said.

AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, who is in Bengaluru, is scheduled to travel to Delhi, and Congress top leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to return from trip abroad, sources added.

Last week some legislators, about ten of them, supporting Shivakumar travelled to New Delhi and met Kharge, as the Congress government completed 2.5 years in office on November 20.

Shivakumar, however, had then said he was not aware of legislators travelling to Delhi to meet Kharge.

Following legislators backing Shivakumar travelling to Delhi, CM Siddaramaiah on Saturday held more than an hour long meeting with Kharge at his residence in Bengaluru.

While Siddaramaiah is pushing for a reshuffle of his Cabinet, Shivakumar wants the party to first decide on leadership change, party sources said.

According to several party insiders, if the Congress high command approves the Cabinet reshuffle, it would signal that Siddaramaiah will complete the full five-year term, which will scuttle the chances of Shivakumar from occupying the coveted post.