Venugopal said, “We had a discussion on Karnataka, Nothing has been decided yet, We will have another meeting on the issue, The Karnataka Congress is completely united
New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi reviewed the Karnataka leadership change issue on Saturday evening. Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal at her residence, 10 Janpath. The decision on resolving the leadership issue in Karnataka has been left to Sonia Gandhi.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Venugopal said, “We had a discussion on Karnataka. Nothing has been decided yet. We will have another meeting on the issue. The Karnataka Congress is completely united.” He added that after discussing Karnataka, the leaders also reviewed the general political situation and preparations for the upcoming Vote Chori rally in the national capital on December 14.
Over the next few days, the Congress top leadership will meet again to deliberate on the Karnataka issue. The high command has already instructed state leaders not to comment publicly on the matter.
The last couple of weeks have witnessed hectic political activity, with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar reportedly seeking to replace Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. After intervention by the Congress high command, both leaders have agreed to leave the final decision to the party leadership.
The Karnataka Assembly session begins on Monday, December 8. Both the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have stated that they will participate together in the session.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier stated that he would convene a meeting of all Karnataka stakeholders, including the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, and that the issue would be resolved collectively. In the meantime, both Siddaramaiah and D. K. Shivakumar have met and publicly affirmed that they will abide by the high command’s decision.
Both leaders are expected to be in Delhi before the Vote Chori rally scheduled for December 14. Party insiders say a meeting with the high command at that time is likely.
