Ramanagara Congress MLA Iqbal Hussain on Tuesday said that he would urge All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala to appoint DK Shivakumar as the chief minister.
“If change does not happen, the Congress cannot win a majority in the 2028 assembly polls and retain power,” Hussain told reporters. He claimed that over 100 of the party’s 137 MLAs backed Shivakumar for the top job.
With Surjewala holding one-on-one meetings with Congress legislators in Bengaluru, loyalists of Shivakumar are publicly campaigning for their leader to replace chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Hussain also said Shivakumar’s leadership was key to the party’s 2023 victory and highlighted his role in organising the Mekedatu padayatra. Responding to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge’s comment that the final decision rests with the party high command, Hussain said, “I respect the leadership but I am telling the facts.”
Insiders say efforts are being made to consolidate further support in the run-up to what many believe could be a post-September shake-up in state politics, a view hinted at earlier by cooperation minister KN Rajanna.
Meanwhile, Surjewala has categorically denied that his meetings with MLAs have anything to do with leadership change. “Some of you asked me are you taking opinion on leadership change. The answer I had given yesterday also and I am answering again today – the answer is clearly ‘no’ in one word,” he told reporters at the Congress party office in Bengaluru.
Standing beside Shivakumar at the press briefing, Surjewala said the meetings were part of a performance review of MLAs, MPs, and party functionaries, including candidates who contested recent Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. “We are meeting the MLAs and MPs. We are trying to understand what work they have done in their constituencies. It is important to review their performance,” he said.
Surjewala added that the evaluation also includes tracking the rollout of the party’s flagship guarantee schemes, such as free bus travel for women, and that MLAs were being asked to submit “report cards” on the implementation.
He also asked party legislators to keep internal issues within party forums. “What we deliberate in the party should remain within the party. I have advised my MLAs also. If they have a problem, instead of raising an issue or a non-issue to settle score, raise it with the head of the family – in the PCC, there is Shivakumar and in the government there is Siddaramaiah,” he said.
On allegations from a section of legislators that development work was lagging in their constituencies, Surjewala said such concerns were being amplified by the BJP. “This is a bogey raised by BJP in Karnataka. They want the guarantees to be shut down,” he said. “I reiterate that the BJP leaders from R Ashoka to BY Vijayendra want to stop the five guarantees. They want ₹58,000 crore not to go to the pockets of Kannadigas in a transparent manner.”
HT could not get any response from the BJP on the comments.
Surjewala remained silent on accusations of irregularities in housing schemes in Kalaburagi and other districts under housing minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan. Several Congress MLAs have raised concerns over how houses meant for the poor are being distributed.