Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister’s son and a Congress MLC representing Varuna, dropped a carefully worded statement on Thursday asserting that the Congress high command in New Delhi has explicitly conveyed to the Karnataka leadership that “as of now, there will be no change in leadership.” Coming amid relentless whispers of a mid-term switch to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, the remark was intended to project stability but instead reignited the very debate it sought to extinguish, exposing the fragility of the current power-sharing arrangement.

The response from DK Shivakumar’s camp was swift and pointed. Senior loyalists such as MLA Iqbal Hussain publicly reminded everyone that the high command alone would decide “at the right time,” while Housing Minister Zameer Ahmad Khan, a known Siddaramaiah ally, downplayed Yathindra’s intervention as merely a personal opinion rather than an official directive. Khan emphasised that the Chief Minister’s chair “is not vacant” and neither faction has the authority to declare it open or closed, inadvertently underscoring the deep mistrust that continues to simmer beneath the surface of the Congress government.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar himself adopted a posture of deliberate restraint, telling reporters that only Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was authorised to speak on the matter. Siddaramaiah, addressing the media earlier in the week, had reiterated his complete submission to the high command’s wisdom and insisted that both he and Shivakumar would accept any decision without demur. This public display of unity, however, has done little to dispel the perception that the two leaders remain locked in a cold truce rather than a genuine partnership.

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The leadership uncertainty spilled onto the floor of the Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday when Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka launched a scathing attack, accusing the Congress of paralysing governance through its internal power struggle. Citing recent social media posts by Congress MLC Channaraj Hattiholi addressing Shivakumar as Chief Minister and cryptic remarks by Minister Byrathi Suresha proclaiming “the king is alive,” Ashoka argued that bureaucratic paralysis and developmental stagnation, particularly in the neglected north Karnataka region, were direct consequences of the lingering doubt over who truly holds the reins of power.

Having crossed the halfway mark of its five-year term last month, the Congress government witnessed direct intervention from the high command, which summoned both leaders for breakfast meetings in the national capital to enforce discipline. While those sessions temporarily lowered the temperature, Thursday’s contradictory statements from within the party reveal that the truce remains precarious. With municipal elections looming and the 2028 assembly battle already on the horizon, the Karnataka Congress finds itself trapped in a cycle of speculation that threatens to erode public confidence and hand the opposition BJP a potent narrative of instability.

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