Siddaramaiah, DKS meet Surjewala in Capital amid buzz of leadership change

Sources said Surjewala, the general secretary in charge of Karnataka, also shared feedback about the party he received from MLAs during his tour of Karnataka with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.  .

In the last two weeks, Surjewala has met 104 MLAs during his visit to the state.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah asserted that there was “no vacancy” for the CM post and dismissed talk of him making way for Shivakumar, the state Congress chief.

“What Shivakumar has said, I am also saying the same thing. There is no vacancy. I am very much here before you. I am the chief minister of Karnataka,” Siddaramaiah told reporters on Thursday.

Shivakumar has publicly denied talk of a change of guard.

Siddaramaiah said that Surjewala has categorically ruled out any such move.

“Surjewala has clearly said there is no change in the leadership. The leadership issue is not in the discussion. When he said this, why is there speculation? There is no discussion about this within the party,” Siddaramaiah said.

On questions about a potential power-sharing arrangement, Siddaramaiah said: “It is natural to raise such issues when the government is completing two-and-a-half years, but it does not mean such an agreement was there. If such an agreement existed, I would not have said recently that I will be the CM for five years.”

The chief minister said that the party high command’s decision would be final and binding. “If someone shares a personal opinion, can that be the party’s decision? (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Rahul Gandhi should talk about this,” he said.