‘Ready to Sacrifice...’: Siddaramaiah Speaks at Congress Meet Amid Infighting Speculation

CM Siddaramaiah's comments at a critical meeting of the Congress headed by General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala at Bharat Jodo Bhavan in Bengaluru are likely to set off a whole new round of discussions and debates in the state's political space.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has submitted that he is "ready to sacrifice for the party" amid the buzz over infighting and speculative talks related to power-sharing in the state unit of the ruling Congress, sources said on Monday.

CM Siddaramaiah's comments at a critical meeting of the Congress headed by General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala at Bharat Jodo Bhavan in Bengaluru are likely to set off a whole new round of discussions and debates in the state's political space.

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According to sources, the statement — "ready to sacrifice" — is also interpreted as a new ploy by CM Siddaramaiah to counter the debate on change of guard in the state.

CM Siddaramaiah has stressed that many leaders in the party have made sacrifices.

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He made special mention of sacrifices made by the senior party leader Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, indicating that all should be ready to sacrifice when a situation arises.

He argued that all chiefs should follow suit. "The Congress is the only party that can bring in change and the BJP is for status quo. The JD-S does not have any ideology," the Karnataka CM was quoted as saying by a source.
Surjewala, raising objection to the "dinner party meetings" by state chiefs, said they should not organize such parties either.

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"If any such situation arises, the leaders must obtain the permission of the high command," he said.

Surjewala also asked party members not to issue statements publicly.

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Instead of issuing statements damaging to the party, he said the leaders should attack the BJP.

He also requested lawmakers to take up any issue of disagreement within the party framework. "The leaders can also discuss the issues with the Chief Minister and Deputy CM."

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Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the state unit Congress chief, said that he knows how to bring his party to power and appealed to the party leaders to stand with him. He underlined that he will remain a "staunch Congress man, no matter what", sources said.

Earlier on Monday, Surjewala said, "Like Arjun, chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar have focused." There was no internal squabble in the state unit of the grand old party.

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Addressing a press conference here, Surjewala said: "Our party leaders, whether it is Siddaramaiah or Shivakumar, are focused like Arjun on their goals. Their aim is to implement the guarantee schemes effectively and run the government efficiently. The BJP, on the other hand, is unnecessarily criticizing the guarantee schemes to create confusion among people.

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