In a new turn of events, the Congress high command is reportedly considering putting forward AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge as a compromise chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka as a solution to the ongoing tussle between outgoing CM Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar.
The current strategy so far involves offering Siddaramaiah a Rajya Sabha seat (that will be contested soon) and making his son Yathidra a cabinet minister to smooth out the transfer of leadership. The BJP had successfully implemented the method with Nitish and Nishant Kumar in Bihar.
While the party have already agreed on following the Bihar BJP model for a transfer of leadership in the state, Siddaramaih is reportedly unhappy with the fact that his seat would be filled by Deputy CM DK Shivakumar.
While the two are on a temporary truce now, the two leaders had a power tussle in 2023 after Siddaramiah was chosen by the Congress high command as chief minister. Many believed Shivakumar was better suited for the job.
It is in this scenario that Congress may offer Mallikarjun Kharge as a compromise candidate. With Kharge in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi would be able to clear the path for KC Venugopal to take up the seat as the new president of the AICC, HT reported.
The move would bring major restructuring to the centre of the party.
KC Venugopal was one of the leading candidates for chief ministerialship in Kerala. The seat went to VD Satheesan.
Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, and state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala are all reportedly in favour of a tranfer of power in Karnataka.
DK Shivakumar, meanwhile, did not respond to reporters who asked him if he would be chief minister. He just smiled and left in his car.
After Congress won the Karnataka assembly election in 2023, reports said that the an alternate power-sharing system was agreed on. It involved D K Sivakumar taking over as CM when Siddharamiah completes half his tenure.
The halfway mark was in November 2025.