Congressmen will welcome Kharge as chief minister, says home minister Parameshwara amid leadership tussle

The Congressmen in Karnataka would be very happy if AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge decides to return to the state as chief minister, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Wednesday amid deputy CM DK Shivakumar’s unrelenting efforts to become the next CM, and hectic lobbying by his followers towards that.

Around the same time, a group of Siddaramaiah’s followers visited Delhi on Monday and Tuesday intensifying the pressure on the AICC leadership to allow chief minister Siddaramaiah to recast his government as it is set to complete three years next month.

“All of us will welcome it as Kharge is very senior and experienced,” Parameshwara said in response to queries from the media in Bengaluru. His comments come at a time when senior ministers including KH Muniyappa and HC Mahadevappa have met senior leaders in Delhi, throwing their weight behind Siddaramaiah.


The pro-Siddaramaiah camp is acting as a counterweight to throw spanner into the works of Deputy CM DK Shivakumar to become the CM and is pushing hard for an early Cabinet reshuffle.

Shivakumar and his brother DK Suresh have been exerting pressure on the Delhi leadership to take a decision on the CM’s post before the local body polls. The AICC leadership is relatively free now with the completion of assembly polls in five states and bypolls in Karnataka.

A section of Dalit ministers has also pitched their claim with the party leadership that there was no need for a change in leadership now, and if the high command felt it a must, the party must consider a Dalit as the next CM, thus increasing their own stakes in the game.

Shivakumar, who is also the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) made no secret of his displeasure with attempts by a group of MLAs flying to Delhi to lobby for ministerial positions two weeks ago. His comments were in sharp contrast to Siddaramaiah’s view that there was nothing wrong in MLAs visiting Delhi.

Shivakumar, sources say, has not been keen on a cabinet reshuffle as that would mean an end to his chief ministerial ambitions over the next two years.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have not been commenting much in public on the leadership issue after their breakfast meeting in November where they pledged to work together.

Shivakumar had dropped broad hints earlier staking his claim to the CM’s post as Siddaramaiah approached his half-term as CM in November last year. He also spoke of a “secret” (deal) five-six top leaders were privy to ahead of Siddaramaiah’s swearing-in as CM in May 2023.