Bengaluru/Chamarajanagara, May 21: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar reiterated on Thursday that time will answer whether he will become the CM of the state.
His statement comes amid huge expectations within the party that the Congress high command may soon decide on a leadership change and the much-awaited state Cabinet reshuffle, as the state government has completed three years in office.
Expectations are high that the party’s top brass may soon summon CM Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief, to New Delhi to amicably discuss and resolve the power tussle over the chief ministership issue.
“Time, muhurta will answer,” Shivakumar told reporters in Chamarajanagara in response to a question whether he will become the CM.
Asked about his temple visits and offering prayers to Gods, amid speculation on a CM change, he said, “You are there as God. People are God.”
Later in the day, when reporters questioned him about his comments on the leadership issue, Shivakumar said, “Time will come, I have said. A good time will come.”
Supporters of Shivakumar have been insisting on his elevation in line with a reported power-sharing agreement with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when the party won the 2023 Assembly elections.
The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025.
Meanwhile, Home Minister G Parameshwara in Bengaluru said the Congress high command will clarify the CM change issue, if the matter is before them.
“Unnecessarily, why will they? Who has raised the question of change? Yesterday, the Deputy CM himself clarified that he has not asked for any change. From where this question has come? Who has asked such a question,” he asked, responding to a query from reporters about why the Congress leadership is not clarifying on leadership change.
“There is high command in the party and they will decide what needs to be done and when. Each person making statements to the media will not achieve anything. The high command has to decide. What is the use of us discussing the proposal to change the chief minister or to continue him? We are not the ones who are going to decide on the matter sitting here,” he said.
Parameshwara further said, as far as he knew, there was no time frame fixed for Siddaramaiah when he was made the chief minister.
“We are not aware of it. Neither the general secretary nor anyone from the high command had told us anything about such a thing,” he said.
Responding to a question on senior Congress MLA and former Minister K N Rajanna’s recent statement that Parameshwara should be made the CM, in case of a leadership change, the latter said, “He (Rajanna) is from our district, he is my friend. We studied together. Naturally, he has affection for me and asked for an opportunity for Tumakuru. I don’t find anything wrong with it.”
There has also been a demand for a “Dalit CM” in the state, for which Parameshwara is a front-runner.
Parameshwara’s name has surfaced intermittently in the race for the CM post amid speculation that several AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes, and Dalits) leaders in the party, seen as part of Siddaramaiah’s camp, want one of their own to occupy the coveted post, in case of leadership change.
