Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday that he would
not go to New Delhi unless he gets an official invitation from the party leadership.
His comment came on the same day Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar
travelled to Delhi. Shivakumar went to the capital to attend a wedding
and to make arrangements for a Congress event later this month.
Although both leaders recently tried to show unity by hosting breakfast
for each other in Bengaluru, questions about internal differences came up again.
While Shivakumar went to Delhi, Siddaramaiah travelled to Mangaluru to attend
an event marking 100 years since social reformer Sri Narayana Guru met Mahatma
Gandhi. Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal also attended the Mangaluru
programme and later met Siddaramaiah for lunch.
Before leaving, Siddaramaiah told reporters that he would go to Delhi only if the
party asked him to. He said, “I will go only if I am invited. Since I was not invited,
I am not going.” When reporters mentioned that Shivakumar had already gone to Delhi,
Siddaramaiah replied, “Let him go. No one has stopped him.”
He also said that if the party needs him in Delhi, the message would be passed on
through Venugopal.
Before leaving for Delhi, Shivakumar told reporters that he was going there to
attend a wedding and to plan for the Congress’s ‘Vote Chori’ event on December
14 at Ramleela Maidan. He said the party aims to bring at least 300 workers from
every district to attend the event.