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Siddaramaiah attended a dinner meeting with close cabinet colleagues at minister Satish Jarkiholi’s residence in Belagavi, hours before his Assembly address.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (File photo/PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday attended a dinner meeting with a group of senior ministers and legislators at the residence of Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi in Belagavi, a gathering that has triggered fresh political speculation amid the ongoing leadership tussle within the ruling Congress.
The dinner took place just hours before Siddaramaiah was scheduled to address the Legislative Assembly during the winter session, which is nearing its conclusion.
The meeting also assumed significance as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly projected Siddaramaiah as an “outgoing Chief Minister,” intensifying the political narrative around a possible change in leadership.
News agency PTI quoted sources and reported that those present at the dinner hosted by Jarkiholi included senior ministers G Parameshwara, HC Mahadevappa, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, MC Sudhakar, and Congress MLA AS Ponnanna.
All attendees are considered close to Siddaramaiah and are seen as part of his core support group within the party.
Responding to questions about Siddaramaiah’s dinner meeting with close cabinet colleagues, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar played down its significance.
“Let them meet, I am happy. Can we say they should not have a meal? Why should I bother about it? We have come from outside. They would have invited. What’s wrong?” Shivakumar said.
Meanwhile, despite the heavy political undertones, the Chief Minister’s legal advisor, AS Ponnanna, attempted to downplay the gravity of the meeting.
Speaking to the media, Ponnanna clarified that while seven to eight leaders were present, the atmosphere was casual.
“I was there, we had dinner together,” Ponnanna said.
“The Chief Minister wasn’t feeling well and only had some soup before leaving early. There was no specific political discussion other than strengthening the party after the current session,” he added.
Siddaramaiah is likely to use his address in the Assembly today to announce a major package for North Karnataka and to highlight the achievements of his government over the past two-and-a-half years.
The dinner meeting at Jarkiholi’s residence followed another gathering the previous night, when the senior minister hosted over 30 “like-minded” Congress legislators at a hotel in Belagavi.
While Siddaramaiah did not attend that meeting, his son and MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah, along with MLA and confidant KN Rajanna, were among those present.
These back-to-back meetings have come against the backdrop of heightened speculation over the chief ministerial post, as the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
The speculation has been linked to a reported power-sharing understanding reached in 2023 between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar.
Earlier this month, over 30 Congress legislators, including some ministers, had also attended a dinner meeting with Shivakumar on the outskirts of Belagavi.
While several party leaders have dismissed these meetings as routine interactions during the ongoing winter session of the legislature, others have suggested that important political developments were discussed.
Amid rising speculation, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had recently held breakfast meetings at each other’s residences on the instructions of the party high command.
These meetings were widely seen as an attempt to pause the leadership tussle and signal Siddaramaiah’s continuation as Chief Minister for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session that began on December 8.
The winter session of the Karnataka Legislature is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
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