Siddaramaiah-Shivakumar asked to hold talks as Cong moves to end K'taka leadership tussle

Bengaluru, Nov 28 The Congress high command, in its first formal move to defuse the leadership crisis in Karnataka, has asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president D.K. Shivakumar to meet one another and convey the outcome to the central leadership, party sources said on Friday.

Accordingly, Siddaramaiah has invited Shivakumar for a breakfast meeting at 9.30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov 29, and has cleared his schedule for the day, officials said. Shivakumar had not responded to the invitation immediately, sources added.

AICC general secretary and MP K.C. Venugopal has spoken to both leaders and urged them to resolve the matter between themselves and inform the high command of their decision.

Party sources said that if the bilateral meeting succeeds, a planned joint visit to Delhi to seek a central resolution will be called off, sparing the party further embarrassment. However, if no understanding is reached, national leaders are likely to summon both to Delhi on Sunday, November 30, the sources said.

Siddaramaiah confirmed the development to the media in Bengaluru, saying he had invited Shivakumar for a breakfast meeting at the direction of the high command.

“The high command has asked us to hold a meeting first between ourselves. Then we have been summoned to Delhi. That is why I have invited him for a breakfast meeting,” he said.

The Chief Minister reiterated that his position on the leadership question remains unchanged. “I have already stated that I will abide by the decision of the high command. I am committed to that statement today and will be committed to it tomorrow as well,” Siddaramaiah said.

He added that Shivakumar had expressed a similar stance and that both would go to Delhi when called.

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar would be summoned to the national leadership in Delhi to settle the issue.

The political tussle has seen public exchanges and competing assertions from both camps. Siddaramaiah had earlier maintained he would remain chief minister for the next five years, while Shivakumar’s camp has pressed for change -- an impasse that prompted the high command’s intervention.

Congress veteran and former Union minister M. Veerappa Moily told IANS he was critical of the infighting, saying the party’s all-out fight over the chief ministership had caused national embarrassment. Moily also faulted the high command for its delayed response, accusing senior leaders of failing to act in time and thereby allowing the situation to worsen.

He criticised the one-upmanship and posturing within the state unit and described the episode as indicative of an “anarchic” internal state.

Party sources said the high command's immediate aim is to restore discipline and present a united front ahead of upcoming political challenges.

How effectively the Saturday meeting eases tensions -- and whether it obviates the need for a central hearing in Delhi -- will be watched closely within party ranks and by political observers outside.

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