Karnataka CM Meets Central Leaders on RS Polls; Power Shift Denied
Siddaramaiah turned down the offer from central leaders and remained adamant to continue as Chief Minister to complete the term
BENGALURU: General Secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday dismissed the media reports on transfer of power in Karnataka as “speculative” and asserted that the reports “had no reality” after a lengthy meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The reaction from Venugopal who was also a part of the detailed meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Indira Bhavan in New Delhi was attended by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, president of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Venugopal said “Today we had a lengthy meeting and the discussion concentrated on ensuing biennial Rajya Sabha and Council polls in Karnataka” and stated “The seats (candidates) for Rajya Sabha and Council Polls would be announced together with Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.” The AICC general secretary stated “That’s all. Nothing else was decided today.”
However, sources stated Siddaramaiah was summoned by central leaders for a discussion on transfer of power in Karnataka. At the meeting, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Randeep Singh Surjewala and K.C. Venugopal engaged in a detailed discussion. It is said Siddaramaiah was offered a Rajya Sabha seat in case he relinquished the Chief Minister to make way for Deputy Chief Minister to ascend the post. In addition, Siddaramaiah was also offered that his son MLC Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah would be made the Deputy Chief Minister.
If sources are to be believed, Siddaramaiah turned down the offer from central leaders and remained adamant to continue as Chief Minister to complete the term. However,
Sources close to Siddaramaiah said “He is not interested in national level politics since he does not know Hindi which would become an impediment for him.” Besides, Siddaramaiah is under pressure from his Ministers and MLAs close to him not to quit the post at any cost.
After the meeting, Siddaramaiah was unavailable for comments. He left from the residence of one of his close aides and Minister of Energy K.J. George for a meeting where Ministers Byrathi Suresh, Minister of Home Dr G. Parameshwar, Minister of Public Works Satish Jarkiholi among others were waiting for the CM to arrive. CM held a meeting with his close aides to elicit their opinion on the offers he received from central party leaders to arrive at a suitable decision and communicate it back to the central leaders.
Before the meeting came to an end, Deputy Chief Minister D.K, Shivakumar met Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Randeep Singh Surjewala and K.C. Venugopal for a brief period and engaged in a meeting but details of the meeting were unavailable immediately. A visibly upset Shivakumar did not entertain questions posed to him and returned to Karnataka Bhavan with a fuming face.
