Karnataka CM post tussle: Siddaramaiah offered Rajya Sabha berth, national role to make way for DKS, says report

NEW DELHI: The Congress has offered Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah a Rajya Sabha seat and a key role in the party at the national level in a bid to ensure that he makes way for DK Sivakumar for the top job in the state, news agency PTI said quoting sources.Siddaramaiah, however, has not accepted the proposal, the agency reported.This comes on a day when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held day-long delebrations with both the Karnataka leaders to find a solution to the ongoing protracted leadership tussle over the CM post.The Congress, however, has officially denied that any leadership change was discussed at today's meeting."Today, the entire discussion was only concentrated on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and (Legislative) Council elections of Karnataka," KC Venugopal said as he was flanked by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar."Whatever speculation you people are doing, that is only speculation, no reality at all. Today we discussed about the Rajya Sabha seats and the Council seats of Karnataka. This is what we have decided today, and nothing else was discussed," Venugopal told the media after the meeting.Meanwhile, news agency ANI reported that after discussions concerning Rajya Sabha and Council elections, a separate meeting took place between Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi for over half an hour.The sources said that Siddaramaiah has been asked to pave the way a change, although no deadline has been given to the party's senior leader.They said Siddaramaiah has been given options, including a Rajya Sabha seat, but final decision is expected after another round of talks between him and Rahul Gandhi.However, soon after the high-level party meeting, Siddaramaiah held deliberations in the evening with ministers considered close to him. The meetings came against the backdrop of persistent tensions between the Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar camps nearly three years after Congress returned to power in Karnataka.Before leaving Bengaluru for Delhi, Siddaramaiah said he was unaware of the agenda of the meeting.“I have been invited to Delhi. There is a meeting tomorrow (May 26). I do not know the subject of the meeting. They have called the meeting for 11 am. AICC general secretary and MP K C Venugopal called me, informed me about the meeting and invited me to attend,” Siddaramaiah said.The Congress leadership has intervened multiple times since the formation of the Karnataka government in 2023 to manage tensions between the two leaders. Supporters of Shivakumar have repeatedly claimed that a rotational chief ministership arrangement was agreed upon when the government was formed, though the Congress high command has never publicly confirmed such a formula.