Cong high command will act at the ‘right time’ on Karnataka power tussle: Kharge

Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge on Friday (November 28) said the Congress high command knows exactly when to step in as the power tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar intensifies. He said the 130-year-old party will act “at the right moment.”

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Speaking to reporters, Kharge said both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have agreed to head to Delhi whenever the party leadership calls them for a meeting.

Tussle brews amid uncertainty

“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,” said Kharge, who is Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s son.

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.

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As the Congress government in Karnataka completed the halfway mark of its five-year tenure on November 20, the power tussle within the party has intensified over a possible change of guard in the state, with a section claiming an alleged “power-sharing” agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.

(With agency inputs)