Amid speculations of a possible change in leadership after the presentation of the state budget 2026-27, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar along with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge will leave for Delhi on Sunday.
After attending the foundation laying ceremony for various development programs at Chittapur in Kalaburagi, Mr Shivakumar and Mr Kharge are expected to leave for Delhi in a special flight from Kalaburagi Airport, according to the KPCC President’s tour programme.
Mr. Shivakumar will remain in Delhi on Sunday and is expected to meet the top Congress leadership on Monday and discuss political developments in the state.
Several legislators loyal to the KPCC chief held a dinner meeting recently and expressed their intention to travel to Delhi to press the party high command to elevate Mr. Shivakumar to the post of Chief Minister after the budget session of the legislature. The end of the session is scheduled for March 27.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who spoke in Mysuru, reiterated that he would continue in office as long as the party high command wanted.
Interestingly, Mr. Shivakumar did not say anything about the state budget presented by Mr. Siddaramaiah on Friday. A few days ago, he said that he did not need the state budget to carry out development work in Bengaluru South district. “There’s no need to have budget expectations. With or without the budget, we’re doing our job,” he said.
Dinner meeting
In another development, Mr. Shivakumar is expected to host a dinner of all Congress MLAs and MLCs on March 10 to mark the completion of six years as KPCC president. Mr Siddaramaiah is also expected to be invited to the dinner, sources said.
Published – 07 March 2026 18:53 IST
