CM chair ‘stable’, says Shivakumar amid PM Modi’s criticism of Cong in Karnataka

At the heart of the power tussle within the Karnataka Congress is a reported 2023 understanding between Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar. According to reports, when the Congress high command selected Siddaramaiah as CM, there was an informal understanding that Shivakumar would take over after the government reached its halfway point.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday categorically refuted PM Narendra Modi's remark suggesting that the CM's chair in the state was ''wobbling.'' Speaking to reporters at Lingasagur in Raichur district, Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, said, ''No chairs are wobbling in Karnataka. All chairs are stable. I don't know what the PM is referring to.'' He was responding to the PM's statement alleging a power struggle within the state government. At the heart of the ''power tussle'' within the Karnataka Congress is a reported 2023 understanding between Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar. According to reports, when the Congress high command selected Siddaramaiah as CM, there was an informal understanding that Shivakumar would take over after the government reached its halfway point. However, the party leadership has not publicly confirmed any such arrangement. Addressing BJP workers in Bengaluru, Modi on Sunday attacked the Congress, accusing it of ''failing to provide good governance due to internal power struggles in Karnataka and of betraying the people.'' He charged that Congress has become a ''parasite party.'' ''For the past three years in Karnataka, instead of resolving people's problems, most of the government's time has been spent on addressing internal conflicts,'' the PM said, adding that the Congress government has remained gripped by uncertainty over leadership and power-sharing arrangements.