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Mallikarjun Kharge said, “People in the Congress High Command – Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and I – will sit together and deliberate…”
The Karnataka leadership issue has now reached Delhi. (PTI File)
Amid speculation over leadership change in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said the issue will be resolved after discussions at the top level with senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
“Only the people there can say what the government is doing there. But I would like to say that we will resolve such issues. People in the High Command — Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and I — will sit together and deliberate on this…We will give the mediation that is required,” he told News18.
#WATCH | Delhi: On Karnataka political turmoil and speculations around CM post, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge says, “Only the people there can say what the Government is doing there. But I would like to say that we will resolve such issues. People in the High Command – Rahul… pic.twitter.com/tw0keLQ43y— ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2025
The power tussle within the party has intensified in the recent weeks amid murmurs about a CM change in the state after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20 in the backdrop of an alleged “power-sharing” agreement involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar in 2023.
Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah said Kharge’s son and Karnataka minister Priyank had gone to Delhi for work. “Rahul Gandhi had called him, so he went,” he said. Responding to a question about legislators backing Shivakumar travelling to Delhi, Siddaramaiah had said on Tuesday, “Let them go. MLAs have freedom. Let’s see what opinion they give. Ultimately, the high command has to make the decision. We will abide by what the high command says….Whatever they (legislators) want to say, let them say to the high command. Ultimately, to put a full stop to this confusion, the high command has to take the decision.”
Priyank Kharge, too, responded to the speculation over change in Karnataka CM. “As you rightly said, there has been speculation in media reports. The AICC president has clarified, the KPCC president has clarified, the Chief Minister has clarified, and the Deputy Chief Minister has also clarified that whatever decisions are to be taken will be done at the behest of the high command,” he said.
Kharge also played down reports that he has held discussions with Rahul Gandhi on the leadership change issue in the state, during a recent meeting, and has conveyed the latter’s message to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, calling it “media buzz”.
DK Shivakumar met Siddaramaiah loyalist Satish Jarkiholi on Tuesday night
Shivakumar had a late-night meet with Satish Jarkiholi, who is being touted as CM Siddaramaiah’s political successor. Shivakumar and Jarkiholi went to an undisclosed location on Tuesday night. The meeting went well past midnight.
Shivakumar, later in the day, told News18: “The meeting with Jarkiholi was about 2028 and 2029 elections and party organisation.” “What’s the harm in meeting Satish Jarkiholi, he is my cabinet colleague. I can’t speak about it (a power-sharing secret deal) in front the media. I don’t have any group,” he told the media.
According to his close aides, Jarkiholi said he “was trying to work out his differences with DKS”. “The talks centred around preparing the party to look beyond Siddaramaiah who is staring at electoral retirement,” said sources close to Shivakumar.
Sources, however, have told News18 exclusively that Jarkiholi told DKS that he will continue to back Siddaramaiah and has no second thoughts about it. He told Shivakumar that he will abide by what the high command says, said sources.
Shivakumar’s ‘secret deal’
Shivakumar on Tuesday said there was a “secret deal between five-six of us” in the party on the issue of sharing power. “I don’t know. I have not asked to make me the CM. It is a secret deal between five and six of us. I don’t want to speak publicly on this. I believe in my conscience. We should work with our conscience. I don’t want to cause embarrassment to the party in any way and weaken it. If the party is there, we are there. If karyakartas are there, we are there,” Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters in his home constituency Kanakapura, he had said, “The CM is an asset for the party. He has completed 7.5 years as CM (including the 2013-2018 term)…He had served as opposition leader in the past. He has also worked and built the party. We should all work together with the target of 2028 (assembly polls) and target 2029 (Lok Sabha election).”
Asked whether there was a power-sharing agreement after the Assembly polls in 2023, Shivakumar said, “Why should I speak about it? You (media) have written things.”
With PTI Inputs
Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India’s space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi…Read More
Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India’s space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi… Read More
November 26, 2025, 15:39 IST
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