Siddaramaiah decides to step down as K’taka CM after breakfast meet with Shivakumar

Bengaluru: In a major development, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday announced his decision to tender his resignation during the breakfast meeting hosted by him at his official residence ‘Kaveri’ in Bengaluru.

The official statement by the CM’s office stated, “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will visit Lok Bhavan today at 2.30 pm. Later, at 3 pm, he will address a press conference at his other official residence, ‘Krishna’.”

State Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil, while leaving after attending the breakfast meeting, further confirmed, “CM is going to Raj Bhavan. CM Siddaramaiah will make Shivakumar the new CM.”

Sources further revealed that Siddaramaiah announced while having breakfast with his cabinet colleagues. He stated that he would tender his resignation by 3 p.m. Siddaramaiah appeared composed while making the announcement and calmly said that he would head to Lok Bhavan later in the afternoon to submit his resignation.

Congress insiders stated that Siddaramaiah will announce Shivakumar’s name to the post of the CM at the Congress Legislature Party Meeting. The meeting is yet to be scheduled by the party leadership.

It can be recalled that amid intense speculation over a possible leadership change in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM Shivakumar met over breakfast at the former’s official residence ‘Kaveri’ earlier in the day.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is considered a strong contender for the CM’s post, arrived at the residence along with several cabinet ministers and senior Congress leaders close to Siddaramaiah.

Shivakumar received a warm welcome from Siddaramaiah upon his arrival at the residence. After greeting the Chief Minister, Shivakumar touched Siddaramaiah’s feet as a mark of respect and later hugged him. Photographs of the interaction were released by both Siddaramaiah’s and Shivakumar’s offices.

Photos showing the bonhomie between the two senior Congress leaders quickly went viral on social media. Sources within the party indicated that the photographs were intentionally released by both camps to send out a message of unity and coordination within the Karnataka Congress leadership.

Along with cabinet ministers, several MLAs considered close to Siddaramaiah also joined the breakfast meeting.

Amid the escalating political drama over the possible resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot left Bengaluru, triggering intense political speculation across the state. However, Congress sources said the Governor’s absence from the city will not affect the resignation process.

Sources within the Congress party said that Siddaramaiah has been instructed to submit his resignation to the Governor’s office even though the Governor is currently out of Bengaluru. Party leaders maintained that there would be no change in the planned timeline and that all developments would proceed as per a set schedule.

IANS