BENGALURU: Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain reiterated his confidence that the deputy chief minister would eventually take charge, declaring he was “200 per cent” sure DK Shivakumar will become the next chief minister.“I always stand by that statement… 200 per cent, he will become the CM soon. The high command will decide. As our leader (Shivakumar) said, the transfer of power is a secret deal among five to six party leaders, and those five to six people will decide,” he said.
A group of Karnataka Congress legislators who travelled to New Delhi to meet senior party leaders said on Tuesday that the high command would take a final call on the demand to elevate DK Shivakumar as the next chief minister.The visit comes amid mounting speculation over a possible change of leadership, with the Congress government completing the halfway mark of its five-year term on 20 November. According to party insiders, six MLAs seen as close to Shivakumar flew to the capital on Sunday night for discussions with central leaders. More legislators are expected to follow. Last week, around ten MLAs had also met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.Magadi MLA H C Balakrishna stressed that the decision on who should lead the government rests entirely with the central leadership, but urged them to settle the uncertainty.“We went to discuss with the high command to clear the confusion because a final decision is needed. Who becomes CM is not important; the current situation is detrimental to the Congress party. The high command should intervene and put an end to this,” he said, declining to say whether Mr Shivakumar’s elevation had specifically been discussed.Others used the Delhi meetings to push for younger leaders and fresh faces to be considered during the proposed cabinet reshuffle. Maddur MLA K M Uday said they had received positive signals from the leadership.He said senior MLAs had also urged the high command to end the “confusion” surrounding the leadership issue, adding that a decision was expected soon.Responding to reports that MLAs loyal to him had travelled to Delhi seeking his elevation, Shivakumar distanced himself from the lobbying efforts.“I have not called or spoken to any of them. I am not asking why they went. I don’t need to,” he told reporters, adding that they might have gone in search of ministerial roles.
