State minister G Parameshwara has given an update amid the frantic guessing game surrounding leadership change in Karnataka, promising that all the lingering confusion will finally be laid to rest by Thursday, May 28.
The state's political arena has been trapped in a revolving door of leadership rumours ever since the Congress stormed to power in 2023. While the latest whispers suggest Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is packed and ready to vacate his office, absolute clarity on his successor remains elusive. The rumour mill went into overdrive on Tuesday when both Siddaramaiah and his deputy, DK Shivakumar, rushed to Delhi for a high-stakes huddle with the party's central command. Trying to unpack the mood of that meeting, Parameshwara admitted to reporters that nobody truly knows what went on behind closed doors, noting that state leaders have been kept entirely in the dark.
However, the minister threw a lifeline to anxious party workers by revealing that Karnataka Congress in-charge Randeep Surjewala is currently en route to Bengaluru and will be tasked with clearing the air tomorrow. Parameshwara maintained that local leaders only know what General Secretary KC Venugopal chose to tell the press on Tuesday night. Venugopal, flanked by both feuding leaders, had flatly denied any talk of a coup, insisting that the six-hour marathon session was strictly dedicated to picking candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha and legislative council elections, dismissing all other media chatter as pure fiction.
Behind that polished public front, however, sources close to the developments tell a vastly different story. The high command is said to be actively nudging Siddaramaiah toward the exit, dangling a prestigious Rajya Sabha seat for himself and a guaranteed cabinet portfolio for his son, Yathindra, as a cushioning mechanism.
Despite the intense pressure from Delhi, the veteran leader is reportedly digging his heels in and carefully weighing his options. He remains deeply reluctant to simply hand over the keys of the state to his ambitious deputy, Shivakumar. In a tense moment during the deliberations, party president Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly had to remind the Chief Minister that choosing his successor was simply not his executive decision to make.
In a fascinating piece of political theatre, Siddaramaiah has now invited Shivakumar to a high-profile breakfast meeting on May 28. The move is an uncanny rerun of the tactical playbook deployed back in November 2025, when a nearly identical leadership scare was neutralised over a shared morning meal. Parameshwara confirmed the breakfast invitation to the press, adding that he would also be holding a private, one-on-one meeting with the embattled Chief Minister this afternoon to gauge his next move before the storm hits tomorrow.
Also read: Siddaramaiah calls cabinet breakfast amid resignation rumours
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