DK Shivakumar denies Siddaramaiah row: 'Congress to work together, no Karnataka CM face'

Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar on Wednesday denied speculation of any rift between him and senior party leader Siddaramaiah. He said that there is no problem in the Karnataka Congress unit. He further added that no Chief Minister face has been announced for the 2023 assembly polls. 

"There is no problem in Karnataka (Congress) and there will be only one thing that will be a collective leadership. No CM face will be announced. I don't have any rift with anyone except political differences with BJP and JDS," Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar's statement comes a day after Siddaramaiah denied any rift with the former. Currently, both the leaders are in Delhi.

On asked about his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar said that the duo discussed a lot of issues, including the alleged Pegasus phone tapping. 

"There is a lot of trouble in Karnataka BJP. There'll be a change of leadership. We had to plan our stand," he added.

On Tuesday, Siddaramaiah, calling BS Yediyurappa the most corrupt, hinted that Karnataka CM will be sacked by BJP High command. "Yediyurappa should go and BJP should also go because all the Ministers in the Cabinet of Yediyurappa are all corrupt," the senior Congress leader said. 

Rift over the top position

The meeting with Rahul Gandhi comes on the road to the Karnataka assembly polls which are on the horizon. Reportedly, both the leaders are contending for the chief ministerial face. While a section of party leaders support Shivakumar as the next Chief Minister, others publicly project Siddaramaiah for the top position.

Recently, Congress MLAs Raghavendra Hitnal and Zameer Ahmed Khan backed Siddaramaiah for the top post. On contrary, Youth Congress leader Mohammed Haris Nalapad claimed Shivakumar would be the party's next CM face.

Earlier, Shivakumar had said that he is in no hurry to become the Chief Minister. Addressing the media on June 23, he asserted that his sole agenda is to bring Congress back in power.