The Congress on Monday issued a press release warning leaders in their own party to refrain from speaking out about the party's leadership in the state. Sources in the party confirmed that the statement issued by AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala was directed at Zameer Ahmed Khan after he publicly projected former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as the Chief Ministerial face for the next elections in 2023.
The press statement said, "It is our faith that people’s welfare and the state’s progress should be our sole objective as the BJP government crumbles under its own weight. I have noted with concern that certain individuals in the Congress Party have recently become prone to issuing statements about leadership in the State or leadership post-Congress Government formation. I take this opportunity to forewarn them to avoid such comments completely”.
"The central Congress leadership and MLA’s will decide the issue at an appropriate time. All Congress leaders will continue to fight the battle unitedly in people’s interest," added the statement.
Recent public statements by Congress leaders had pointed to two separate camps in the party's state unit - one backing Siddaramaiah and the other backing Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President DK Shivakumar.
MLA Zameer Ahmed, on Sunday, stoked controversy after he said he does not want to refer to Siddaramaiah as the former CM but as the future CM of Karnataka. He has also urged the party to declare Siddaramaiah as CM face of the Congress. Following this, another MLA, Raghavendra Hitnal backed Zameer’s remark, prompting the Congress central leadership to put an end to this war between the two camps.
The party high command is however keen for both camps to put aside their differences and focus on winning the 2023 Assembly elections. "The entire Congress leadership in the State will leave no stone unturned in putting Karnataka as a frontline state in agriculture and economy and as an example to be emulated by the rest of the country," added the press statement.
The Congress formed the government along with its coalition partner JD(S) after the 2018 Assembly election. But a year later, after 17 MLAs resigned and defected to the BJP, the party came to power in the state under BS Yediyurappa.