Karnataka Tussle: Wish Siddaramaiah “All The Best”, Says DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru:

The Karnataka cliffhanger just got a fresh twist with state party chief DK Shivakumar, one of the two contenders for the Chief Minister’s post, cancelling his trip to Delhi and sending his “best wishes” to his rival. The 61-year-old, who was expected to reach this evening after summons from the party’s Central leadership, in a sudden turnaround, said he would not.

“Sonia Gandhi told me, ‘I have confidence in you that you will deliver Karnataka’. I am sitting here, doing my regular responsibility.  You should have the basic courtesy, a bit of gratitude. They should have the courtesy to acknowledge who is behind the win,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Told that his move might be seen as rebellion, Mr Shivakumar told NDTV, “I won’t blackmail, that’s not me. Don’t perceive anything. I have my own presence of mind. I am not a child. I won’t fall in a trap”.

While he did not explain his reason for canceling his Delhi visit, he did mention that he has a “stomach infection”.

Mr Siddaramaiah, who is already in the national capital, is expected to meet party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders this evening. Both leaders were called to Delhi by the Central leaders after the Central observers, deployed by the Congress to sense the mood among the party MLAs, submitted their report.

Earlier today, Mr Shivakumar had claimed he has the “numbers” — meaning MLAs who have to choose their leader at the Legislature Party meeting.

“Yesterday 135 MLAs have given their opinion and passed a one-line resolution, few have expressed their personal opinion. My power is the 135 MLAs. Under my leadership, the Congress has won 135 seats,” Mr Shivakumar said.

He also took credit for rebuilding the party after the coalition government with HD Kumaraswamy collapsed as nearly 20 MLAs left and joined the BJP.  

“A single man with courage makes a majority and I have proved it. I don’t want to disclose what all has happened in the last five years,” he told reporters. “When our MLAs went out of the party, I did not lose heart and took the responsibility with courage. Mallikarjun Kharge is the senior leader and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have confidence in us. We will leave the matter to them,” he added.