Siddaramaiah to visit Delhi on Monday to meet Cong high command

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader in Karnataka and former chief minister Siddaramaiah would leave for Delhi on Monday following a call from the party high command.

According to sources close to Siddaramaiah, he would reach Delhi on Monday and meet various leaders.

He is expected to meet party president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, they added.

Sources said the meeting is regarding the appointment of office-bearers and strategies for the Assembly elections.

Siddaramaiah”s Delhi visit assumes significance as a section of MLAs and leaders including Chickpet MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and Kampli MLA J N Ganesh are openly backing him to lead the state in the event of the Congress getting majority in the Assembly elections in 2023, whereas others want the Congress state chief D K Shivakumar to take up the role.

The issue of projection of the chief ministerial candidate has embarrassed the party when it is still in the opposition.

A week after Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar would be visiting Delhi on July 26.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Bagalkote, Shivakumar said there is a national level meeting of Congress state presidents and the Congress legislative party leaders to discuss the strategy in the wake of the upcoming session of parliament.

The monsoon session of the parliament will be held from July 19 to August 13 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is also learnt that the AICC national general secretary and party’s Karnataka in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala would also visit the state and hold meetings with office-bearers here.