Bengaluru (Karnataka)

Congress MLA Ashok Pattan on Wednesday said that senior party leader Rahul Gandhi has asked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to visit Delhi, adding that the date for the meeting is yet to be finalised.

Speaking to ANI in Bengaluru, Pattan said that Rahul Gandhi conveyed the message to both leaders a day earlier.

"Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi told both of them (CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar) to go to Delhi. The date has not been fixed yet. After fixing the date, both of them will go there," he said.

They can go to Delhi after Sankranti, he added, stating that "everything will be fine after CM DCM's visit to Delhi."

Shedding light on the possibilty of any cabinet reshuffle here, Pattan asserted, "There is a desire for a cabinet reshuffle. We all demand a cabinet reshuffle. I am also an aspirant for the ministerial post."

Pattan further dismissed the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) criticism of CM Siddaramaiah and DCM Shivakumar not receiving the German Chancellor at the airport, calling it a "small issue" that the opposition was deliberately blowing out of proportion.

"Our leader is very important to us; that is why we went there to receive Rahul Gandhi. We wanted to go there and receive him (German Chancellor), but due to an unexpected program, they could not go there. BJP does not have anything in their hand. They turn these small issues into big ones. First, they must solve their internal quarrel," he told reporters.

Earlier today, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah said that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was travelling to Gudalur to attend a program and that he met him on the way.

He clarified that no political discussion took place with the Congress leader.

Responding to media queries regarding alleged confusion over power-sharing in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that there is no such discord within the party, labelling the speculation an 'entirely media-driven creation.'

Addressing recent remarks by certain party MLAs on the matter, he said they were not fully aware of the situation. He emphasised that only he or Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is authorised to speak on the issue, noting that the media has been discussing the topic far more than the legislators themselves.

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These developments follow speculation about a change in the state's Chief Minister, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.

As a result, it allegedly triggered an ongoing power struggle within the Karnataka Congress, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Home Minister G. Parameshwara seen as key figures in the unfolding political churn.