Bengaluru, Nov 28 (IANS) In a major development, the Congress high command has instructed the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to hold a meeting between themselves and then have been asked to meet the central leadership in Delhi.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, while speaking to the media in Bengaluru, confirmed the development, saying that he has invited Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar for a breakfast meeting to discuss the matter.

“The high command has asked us to hold a meeting first between ourselves. Then we have been summoned to Delhi. That is why I have invited him for a breakfast meeting,” said Siddaramaiah.

The Chief Minister said that his stand remains unchanged regarding the leadership change in the state.

“I have already stated that I will abide by the decision of the high command. I am committed to that statement today and will be committed to it tomorrow as well,” he said.

“He (Shivakumar) has also made a similar statement. We will discuss the matter, and we will go to Delhi,” the Chief Minister added.

Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar would be called to Delhi to resolve the leadership issue of the state.

Siddaramaiah had earlier said that he would be the Chief Minister for the next five years. However, he has now maintained that he would abide by the decision of the high command.

Congress veteran and former Union Minister Veerappa Moily, in an interaction with IANS, came down heavily on the Karnataka Congress for the all-out fight over the CM-ship, leading to national embarrassment and also lambasted the Congress high command for failing to act on time and “allowing the situation to worsen”.

The senior Congress leader took strong exception to one-upmanship and posturing by the two camps, under CM Siddaramaiah and his Deputy DK Shivakumar and lamented the “anarchic” state in which the party was caught.

–IANS

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