Overview
- Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said his brief Delhi trip was for a private wedding and to oversee arrangements for the December 14 Ramlila Maidan rally, denying any meeting with the party leadership.
- He and senior minister Satish Jarkiholi confirmed a conversation at a wedding and described it as routine, as speculation persists about support-building and leadership churn.
- Shivakumar has recently met ministers including M. B. Patil and Priyank Kharge, and reports say he is courting AHINDA and Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders to widen his base beyond Vokkaliga strongholds.
- A group of backward-community seers publicly expressed support for Shivakumar, according to local reports, even as the party leadership facilitated back-to-back breakfast meetings between him and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
- Shivakumar said a December 8 Delhi meeting convened by the chief minister was postponed at Union ministers’ request, and BJP figures have discussed a possible no-confidence motion to test the ruling party’s unity.