CLP meeting to be held on Monday amid growing narrative over leadership issue

Amid a palpable shadowboxing over leadership in the Congress, a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party is being held along with the meeting of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office-bearers on Monday even as senior Ministers continued to speak on the issue on Sunday. The CLP meeting is coming against the backdrop of intense public posturing by loyalists of the Chief Minister and other leaders over issues including leadership of the government and the KPCC as speculation is rife that a purported agreement over power rotation exists between the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. Caste-based conventions While it is expected that the miffed Ministers belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, whose planned SC/ST convention was asked to be cancelled, may raise the issue, Congress sources said the party is likely to allow caste-based conventions on its platform. Rajanna, seen as a Siddaramaiah loyalist and a vocal Minister on the leadership issue, told reporters in Udupi that every party had factions, and that faction politics is good in democracy. Channagiri legislator Shivaganga Basavaraj also joined the leadership issue by saying that Mr. Shivakumar should have become the Chief Minister for five years.