Published May 26, 2026 | 9:09 PM ⚊ Updated May 26, 2026 | 9:54 PM
Rahul Gandhi with Siddaramaiah. (File pic)
Synopsis: The AICC leadership wants a smooth transition and has requested Siddaramaiah to place his demands and voluntarily give up the chief ministerial post within a week. With this, KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is one step away from being elevated as Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Whenever the question of leadership change arose in the Karnataka Congress, Siddaramaiah has always repeated one line: “I will resign if Rahul Gandhi asks me to do so.”
In a meeting that spanned merely 30 minutes on the afternoon of Tuesday, 26 May, between the two leaders, Gandhi asked Siddaramaiah the same: step down as the chief minister and make way for the party’s future leadership — of course, only after duly thanking him for all he had done for the party.
The ball is now in Siddaramaiah’s court. It is unlikely that he will brazen it out, given that he has been personally asked to make way for others by Gandhi.
“The Congress has given Siddaramaiah everything. Every single thing possible, even if that meant sacrificing loyal Congressmen like Mallikarjun Kharge at his altar. He has been given complete trust and cooperation. It has been conveyed to him that it is time to return the favour,” a senior functionary of Congress, privy to the closed-door developments on Tuesday, told South First.
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AICC sources said Gandhi thanked Siddaramaiah for his dedication and long stint as one of the Congress party’s best chief ministers, who had delivered on the ideological and policy fronts.
It is no secret that Gandhi has great regard for Siddaramaiah, but given the Congress’s streak of smashing the status quo and taking risky but necessary decisions, the Kuruba heavyweight has been asked to step down.
The AICC top leadership wants a smooth transition and has requested Siddaramaiah to place his demands and voluntarily give up the chief ministerial post within a week.
Gandhi is said to have personally assured Siddaramaiah that all his demands would be met. The organisation is clear that this is not an attempt to oust Siddaramaiah, but a necessary step towards securing the future of the party.
“A decision has been conveyed to him. He will soon brief everyone about it,” a source very close to Siddaramaiah told South First.
The cryptic message indicated that an announcement of what had transpired behind closed doors in Delhi on Tuesday was imminent.
At 77 years old, Siddaramaiah now holds the distinction of being the longest-serving chief minister of Karnataka and the Congress party’s only OBC chief minister in the country. He is Congress’s only mass leader in Karnataka whose endorsement is a necessity for the party to keep its vote bank intact.
Ever since his years in the Janata Party under HD Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah has carefully shaped his journey as a leader of AHINDA (Kannada acronym for Minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits).
Till this day, Siddaramaiah commands the largest vote consolidation of Kurubas and Muslims in Karnataka. Both communities are spread across the state and play a key role in electoral outcomes in over 160 out of the 224 assembly seats.
AICC leadership is aware that alienating Siddaramaiah is not an option. A smooth, concerted and fully voluntary exit by the Kuruba leader, while he lends his support and endorsement to whoever replaces him, is the only way forward for Congress.
Siddaramaiah is returning to Bengaluru from Delhi on Tuesday night. He is expected to hold meetings with his close aides on the formalities of the transition.
With this, KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is one step away from being elevated as Chief Minister of Karnataka — a post he has been waiting for since he, along with Siddaramaiah, jointly led the Congress to a landslide victory in the 2023 Assembly elections.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
