Bengaluru: Even as speculations galore over change of leadership in the State two-and-a-half years after the Congress came to power in May, 2023, the camp followers of Chief Minister (CM) Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister (Dy.CM) D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the KPCC President, are gearing up for a show of strength.

In an interesting development, Dy.CM D.K. Shivakumar paid a visit to Parappana Agrahara Jail in Bengaluru last evening and met party MLAs Veerendra (Puppy) and Vinay Kulkarni, who are in jail in connection with separate cases and is said to have sought support of the two Legislators.

On the other side, PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi is lobbying for the continuance of Siddaramaiah as the CM for the remaining tenure, arguing that the CM, being a mass leader and hailing from a Backward Class, is capable of bringing the Congress back to power again in the next Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge is said to have landed in Bengaluru last night to talk to the party leaders in a bid to resolve the leadership issue, with CM Siddaramaiah hell-bent on continuing in power and Dy.CM D.K. Shivakumar, who also heads the State Congress, making all efforts to get the CM post. Kharge is scheduled to meet CM Siddaramaiah later this evening as an effort to amicably resolve the leadership row, with the lower rung party leaders expressing apprehension that the leadership tussle is affecting the party and also hurting the administration.