Show of unity: Siddaramaiah visits Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast

Bengaluru: In an apparent display of unity, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday visited his deputy D K Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two broke bread in the wake of a raging power tussle.

Siddaramaiah drove down to the Deputy CM’s Sadashivanagar residence here, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother and former Congress MP D K Suresh.

Though this is being projected as a reciprocal visit, after Shivakumar visited the CM’s official residence three days ago for a similar breakfast meeting, the political ramifications of it are being keenly watched, as it is taking place as per the directions of the Congress high command.

Stating that both he and the CM continue to work together as a team, Shivakumar on Monday said he has invited Siddaramaiah for breakfast to discuss and strengthen their collective efforts to deliver on the promises to Karnataka.

He also said that they both were “working like brothers”, while asserting that there were no groups in the state Congress, and blamed the media for creating confusion.

Following the initial breakfast meeting on Saturday, at the CM’s official residence, as part of an attempt by the Congress high command to break the logjam over the leadership row involving the two leaders, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had publicly stated that “there won’t be any confusion”.

On the leadership issue, the two had maintained that they would obey the high command.

The development is seen as a move by the high command to pause the leadership tussle between the two, and signals Siddaramaiah’s continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session from December 8.

The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculations about a change in chief minister in the state after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20. The speculation was fuelled by talks of a ‘power-sharing’ agreement said to have been arrived at while the party was elected to power in 2023.