Former Karnataka CM meets Congress leaders in Delhi

Amidst talk of the appointment of a new head of the Congress party in Karnataka, former state Chief Minister Siddaramiah met senior party leaders A. K. Antony and Ahmed Patel in Delhi on Tuesday.

Sources said that during the meeting they discussed the current political situation in the state. The Congress was routed in the recent by-elections which paved the way for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to get a majority in the Karnataka Assembly.

After the debacle, Siddaramaiah had resigned from the post of Leader of the Opposition.

Now, the party is considering replacing current state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu, sources said, adding that D.K. Shivakumar is the frontrunner in the fray followed by M.B. Patil.

Sources said that K.H. Muniappa, a senior leader of the state, has also thrown his hat into the ring while Krishna Byre Gowda is being backed by the former Chief Minister.

The Karnataka Congress has been divided into camps with the anti-Siddaramaiah camp upping the ante. After the by-election results the old guard in the party wants somebody who is from a Congress background because many party cadres consider the former CM an outsider, said a source.IANS