Infighting in Karnataka Congress, party divided over CM face

There is a clear rift in the Karnataka Congress, with cadres and MLAs divided between the DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah camps. With the Karnataka assembly elections less than two years away, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar issued a new directive, instructing his party colleagues to refrain from projecting chief ministerial faces. Responding to MLA for Chamarajpet BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan’s attempt to project former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as the right candidate, Shivakumar said that the Congress would go to elections under a collective leadership and all leaders have been instructed to follow the party’s discipline. “I can't call Siddaramaiah former chief minister, but I want to call him future the chief minister,” Zameer Ahmed Khan, said at an event in Chamarajpet that Siddaramaiah attended. Zameer Ahmed Khan has often referred to Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister. A loyal aide to Siddaramaiah, Zameer recently stated that he is willing to give up his Chamrajpet constituency for Siddaramaiah and that he will ensure that Siddaramaiah wins by a margin of 70,000 votes, making Siddaramaiah's election as the chief minister a breeze.