A six-hour meeting between Karnataka’s top Congress leadership and the party’s central figures in Delhi on Monday ended with a firm denial of any imminent change at the top, and a blunt message to those reading too much into it, “No speculation.” The gathering, attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, had been watched closely amid persistent talk of a leadership change in the state.
But party general secretary KC Venugopal was unequivocal when he stepped out to address waiting reporters. “Discussions were held regarding the Rajya Sabha and MLC elections. There is no truth to any other speculation,” he said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah confirmed separately that a cabinet expansion was not on the agenda either.
“Only speculation, no discussions other than on upcoming Rajya Sabha polls,” the party said, referring to the three vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka that the meeting was ostensibly called to discuss.
The denial, however, does little to put to rest a leadership question that has been simmering for well over a year. When Congress formed its government in Karnataka after the 2023 assembly elections, DK Shivakumar’s camp maintained that the party’s top leadership had promised a rotating Chief Ministership, meaning Shivakumar was to take over midway through the term. That promise, his supporters insist, remains unfulfilled.
The issue resurfaced sharply in November last year when the Siddaramaiah government completed two years in office, but the party chose to maintain the status quo at the time, partly to avoid any disruption ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly election in the neighbouring state.
The Congress’s reluctance to act against Siddaramaiah, now 80, stems largely from his ahinda support base, a coalition of minority communities, backward classes and Dalits whose backing helped the party sidestep the dominant Vokkaliga-Lingayat caste arithmetic in 2023. Disturbing that the equation carries real electoral risk.
Yet the pressure is building. The party is feeling the weight of anti-incumbency, the BJP has grown noticeably more active in the state, and some reports call for a leadership revamp that have the backing of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Monday’s meeting resolved nothing publicly. Whether it resolved anything privately remains to be seen.
