Chamarajanagar/Bengaluru, 20 Nov 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday dismissed rumours of a “November revolution” or an imminent change of leadership as “a media creation”, even as ministers and MLAs loyal to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar travelled to New Delhi to meet the Congress High Command, signalling renewed churn within the ruling party.

The political buzz intensified a day after Siddaramaiah completed two-and-a-half years in office, a milestone that had fuelled speculation that he might hand over the reins to Shivakumar midway through the government’s term. Responding to these claims, the Chief Minister insisted that his position “has been strong from the beginning and will remain strong”. Asked whether he intended to lead the party into the 2028 Assembly elections, he said, “Let the election time come,” but asserted that he would continue presenting budgets as long as people entrusted him with power. He has already announced plans to present his 17th Budget next year.

Siddaramaiah clarified that his earlier remarks about a cabinet reshuffle, communicated to the central leadership 30 months ago, had been misconstrued as an indication of leadership change. “I had only spoken about a reshuffle. After that, discussions about power sharing began,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the Shivakumar camp appeared active again. According to sources, Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy and MLAs Iqbal Hussain, HC Balakrishna and SR Srinivas left for Delhi on Thursday, with around 12 more MLAs expected to follow on Friday. Earlier, nearly a dozen MLCs had also camped in the capital and met senior Congress leaders.

The rivalry between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar dates back to the days immediately after the Congress’s sweeping victory on 20 May 2023, when both leaders vied for the chief ministership. Though reports had suggested a “rotational chief minister” formula under which Shivakumar would take over after two-and-a-half years, the party never confirmed such an arrangement. 

In Chamarajanagar, Siddaramaiah also rejected the long-standing superstition that chief ministers lose power after visiting the district, remarking that he had visited it “three dozen times” and only grown stronger.