Siddaramaiah says he has no difference with Shivakumar as Surjewala gets into damage control exercise

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday declared he has no differences with his deputy DK Shivakumar and the government was “as solid as a rock” amid AICC general secretary RS Surjewala beginning a three-day visit to the state to hear out the party MLAs some of whom have hurled charges of corruption and misgovernance.

The AICC leader is meeting MLAs separately after a section of MLAs and ministers started commenting about the party affairs in public, defying an earlier gag order. Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna triggered a wave of speculation when he said the state would witness a “revolutionary development” after September.

While Rajanna, a follower of Siddaramaiah, was hinting at a change of Shivakumar as Pradesh Congress Committee president, another Congress MLA HA Iqbal Hussain said Siddaramaiah would step down in three months passing the mantle on to his deputy. These statements are flying thick and fast amid speculations of a Cabinet reshuffle and public works minister Satish Jharakiholi taking over as the party president.


The CM, speaking to the media in Mysuru, said Surjewala would interact with MLAs, gather their opinion and do his job, without sharing much information. In Bengaluru, Surjewala maintained that he was gathering details from the party MLAs about the progress of the welfare guarantee schemes in their assembly constituencies, about the development work and what else needed to be done. This will help the party leadership to pass on the inputs to the government. He dismissed reports of leadership change as "speculative."

Sections of Congress lawmakers have been cut up with a few ministers complaining that the government was unresponsive to the needs of their constituencies. One of them demanded the resignation of housing minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan after allegations emerged that his department officials demanded bribes to allot houses to the poor.

Senior MLAs Bharamagouda (Raju) Kage and BR Patil have attacked the government in fiercest terms with the former even going to the extent of threatening to resign.