Leadership row Sidda invites DKS for breakfast min says Cong has 'timing sense' on solving issues

    Bengaluru, Nov 28 (PTI) In indications of attempts at truce amid the intense power struggle in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday invited his embattled deputy D K Shivakumar for a breakfast meeting on Saturday, at the behest of the Congress high command to discuss the leadership row.
    Siddaramaiah's announcement of the crucial breakfast meeting came on a day when his cabinet colleague and party chief Mallikarjuna Kharge's son, Priyank Kharge, said the Congress had the 'sense of timing' to resolve issues.
    Shivakumar, for his part, said "he was not in a hurry," even as Siddaramaiah asserted there was no change in his stand.
    The opposition BJP warned of moving a no-confidence motion should the tussle continue, while also pointing out at the possibility of a 'dark horse' emerging in the midst of the tussle.
    
    "The party high command had called me and him (D K Shivkumar) and asked us to have a meeting. Hence, I have invited him for breakfast tomorrow. We will discuss when he comes," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
"There is no change in my stand and I have said I will listen to whatever the high command says. Both of us have said that we will obey whatever the party high command says," he added.
The chief minister also said that he will go to Delhi if the high command calls him.
Earlier in the day, Shivakumar, the Congress state president replied in the affirmative when asked if he would go to Delhi and meet the party high command, saying "Delhi is our temple."
    "I don't want anything. I am not in a hurry. My party will take a decision," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function marking the golden jubilee of the Anganwadi programme, where he shared the stage with the CM.
    He said he may travel to the national capital in view of the Parliament's winter session starting December 1.
    On his visit to the national capital, he said, "I may go to Delhi."
    "I have a lot of work there. The parliament session is approaching. I have to meet all Karnataka MPs because they need to take up some of our projects," he said.
    Asked whether he would meet the party high command, Shivakumar said he would.
    "Delhi is our temple. All of us have to go. Without Delhi, nothing can happen. Congress is a party with a long history, and it has always guided us," he said.
    He added that the Congress leadership decides party policy, and that both he and the Siddaramaiah would go to Delhi whenever called.
    Interestingly, Priyank Kharge earlier in the day said the Congress high command possesses the sense of timing to resolve the intensifying "power tussle" between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
    "Nobody has given any official invitation or statement on the meeting in New Delhi. The CM and the Deputy CM have said that they will go to Delhi if they are invited by the Congress president or AICC general secretary and Karnataka in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala. Let the invitation come from Delhi, then only it will be decided," Kharge said.
    Asked about the increasing confusion, Kharge said, "The high command has the sense of timing. It will take a call, keeping in mind the right time."
    He urged people not to speculate further, and said the high command will intervene whenever necessary.
    Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra said the Congress high command has not given any direction on the leadership change and the confusion is media creation.
He also said no one knows whether any promise was made in 2023 about leadership change after two-and-half years and hence it was not good to speculate about it.
"There is no battle or skirmish (in ruling Congress). Since there is no confusion amongst us, I feel the media is into perception creation. The Congress high command has not given any direction for leadership change. If there is anything like that then they will call and discuss," Yathindra told reporters in Mandya.
He added that some people are saying that the deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar should be elevated but he has said that he will listen to the party high command.
The party high command has said that it will invite both and discuss the issue. Till then no confusion should prevail, he noted.
To a question on the promise to Shivakumar to make him next Chief Minister, Yathindra said, "No one knows whether any promise was made about leadership change after two and half years. High command may or may not be knowing about it. So, it is not proper to speculate about it."
On the question of MLAs being divided on the issue, he said, "Which MLA is in whose favour should not be discussed before media. It is the internal matter of the party, which should be left to us."
    When asked whether the BJP would move a no-confidence motion against the state government during the Belagavi session of the legislature, party MP and former CM Basavaraj Bommai said, "There is time till December 8. If such a situation arises, the occasion to move a no-confidence motion may come."

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)