The senior Congress leader also warned against any individual solely claiming credit for the party's electoral success.
Published Dec 22, 2025 | 8:50 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 22, 2025 | 8:50 AM
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
Synopsis: Congress President Mllikarjun Kharge said the party’s high command does not have any confusion over the ongoing leadership issue in the Karnataka Congress. His remarks come amid a perceived leadership tussle in the state between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar
The confusion over the ongoing leadership issue in the Karnataka Congress exists only at the local level and not within the party’s high command, claimed party President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday, 21 December.
“The high command hasn’t created any confusion. It exists at the local level. How is it right to blame the high command?” he asked while speaking to reporters in Kalaburagi. He further said that local leaders — without naming anyone — should take ownership of the internal disputes rather than blaming the high command.
His remarks come amid a perceived leadership tussle in the state between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, which has remained alive for over two months.
While both leaders have publicly stated that they will abide by the high command’s decision and dismissed any reports of a “tussle” between the two as a fabrication by the Opposition BJP and some sections of the media, supporters from their respective camps have continued to pitch their preferred “next CM” candidate, keeping the discussion alive.
The senior Congress leader also warned against any individual solely claiming credit for the party’s electoral success.
“Everyone has built the party. It’s not any individual’s effort. Congress has been built by party workers. Congress workers supported us,” he said.
While he did not name anyone, Shivakumar had previously spoken publicly about having “built” the party. “I am not the one to blackmail Congress. I have built this party and worked day and night for it. I will continue to do so in the future. Our party will return to power (in Karnataka) in 2028,” he told reporters in Delhi last month.
His supporters, too, have advocated for him to become the chief minister due to his “hard work” in the party. “Shivakumar has a chance. He will become the CM now. For all his effort, struggle and party’s organisation, we are hopeful that he will be rewarded,” Ramanagara Congress MLA Iqbal Hussain had earlier said.
Meanwhile, both leaders have also repeatedly put the ball in the high command’s court.
On the final day of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly’s Belagavi session on Friday, Siddaramaiah asserted that he would continue to be the chief minister until the high command decides otherwise. He also dismissed claims of a two-and-a-half-year power-sharing arrangement that has been doing the rounds ever since the party came to power after the 2023 Assembly Elections.
However, a day later, Shivakumar said the Congress high command had conveyed its position on “power-sharing arrangements” to both him and Siddaramaiah, and that they would travel to Delhi together when summoned.
Despite such contrasting statements, Shivakumar on Sunday reiterated that he and Siddaramaiah are “working like brothers,” in a bid to dispel any rumours about differences between the two.
“Aren’t CM and I working like brothers? I don’t have differences with any Congress leader,” Shivakumar said while speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
