K’taka crisis: DK Suresh says everything progressing smoothly, high command will decide at right time
Bengaluru: Commenting on developments around leadership change, former MP D.K. Suresh, brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, said on Monday that everything is progressing smoothly and is reaching a decisive stage. He stressed that the party high command will take the appropriate decision at the right time.
Responding to questions from the media at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, Suresh reacted to various political developments that have assumed significance amid the leadership crisis in Karnataka.
When asked whether he had met senior party leaders in Delhi about a change in the Chief Minister’s post, he said: “I cannot publicly disclose everything about my personal visit. A breakfast meeting was held, and another breakfast meeting will take place on Tuesday.”
On whether both leaders had stated they were committed to the high command’s decision, he said: “The high command will take the appropriate decision at the right time.”
Asked about allegations that D.K. Shivakumar was exerting pressure on the high command through him, Suresh replied: “This is something you (the media) are saying.”
When questioned about former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s comment that religious seers should not interfere in politics, Suresh said, “Rather than responding politically to that, people already know who has used mutts (monasteries) in what circumstances. I don’t need to say anything more.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has invited Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to his residence for breakfast on Tuesday (December 2). During a programme at Vidhana Soudha on Monday, Shivakumar extended the invitation, and the Chief Minister has reportedly agreed.
Shivakumar also asked that a ‘naati koli’ (country chicken) dish, said to be Siddaramaiah’s favourite, be prepared for the breakfast.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, said on Monday that he had not yet received a phone call from Shivakumar inviting him for breakfast but added that he would go whenever invited.
“If I am invited to breakfast by Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar, I am ready to go. He had said at the breakfast meeting (on November 30) that he would invite me. He told me I should come to his residence for breakfast on Tuesday. But until now, I have not received any call. If he invites us, I will go,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
“He (Shivakumar) may invite soon. I assume he will definitely invite me,” he added.
Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief and a key contender for the Chief Minister’s post, had said last Saturday — after the breakfast meeting at the CM’s residence — that he and Siddaramaiah were “together” and would follow the directions of the party high command.
“Today, I am happy. The CM and I had a breakfast meeting. The CM will also visit my residence for dinner in the next two days,” he had remarked.
Earlier on Monday, when asked about inviting the Chief Minister to his residence, Shivakumar said the matter concerned only the duo.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and I are working together like brothers. We participated in the breakfast meeting only because of media pressure. You (the media) repeatedly claimed that there are camps and groups within the party,” he said.
