Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah agreed to step down on Tuesday night following marathon discussions with the Congress high command in Delhi, according to media reports. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is the frontrunner for the top post, although the party has not yet announced a final decision on the leadership change.
According to a report by The New Indian Express, Siddaramaiah has sought an appointment with Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot at Raj Bhavan on Thursday at 2 pm. He is also expected to convene a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting on Friday.
The report stated that Siddaramaiah agreed to resign after holding a meeting with his supporting MLAs on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, senior Congress leaders had also met him and reportedly advised him to step down in order to bring an end to the prolonged power struggle within the party in Karnataka. In an effort to ensure a smooth transition, AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala are expected to arrive in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The leadership tussle is rooted in a reported power-sharing understanding reached in 2023 between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. According to reports, when the Congress leadership chose Siddaramaiah as chief minister after the Assembly elections, it was informally agreed that Shivakumar would take over midway through the government’s term.
However, the Congress has never officially acknowledged any such arrangement. The government completed its halfway mark in November last year, and Shivakumar’s supporters have reportedly intensified pressure on the high command for a leadership transition after the government completed three years in office on May 20.
Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were in Delhi on Tuesday for separate consultations with the party’s central leadership. Reports suggested that Siddaramaiah carried letters of support from around 100 MLAs to demonstrate his backing within the legislature party.
Meanwhile, some media reports claimed that the Congress leadership has attempted to placate Siddaramaiah by offering him a Rajya Sabha seat — a political formula recently seen in Bihar, where the BJP replaced Nitish Kumar by offering him a seat in the Upper House.
It remains unclear whether Siddaramaiah would accept such an offer. He is expected to meet supporting MLAs at the Bengaluru residence of Energy Minister K.J. George on Wednesday.
The Congress, however, officially dismissed reports of a leadership change as “mere speculation” and maintained that Tuesday’s meetings were focused solely on the upcoming Rajya Sabha and Karnataka Legislative Council elections.
