'Even if effort fails ... ': DK Shivakumar shares cryptic post after meeting Rahul Gandhi

BENGALURU: Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar shared a cryptic post on Wednesday after his meeting with Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. In the post on X, he said: “Even if the effort fails, the prayer does not fail.” The post follows a brief, exclusive interaction between Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Shivakumar at Mysuru airport on Tuesday, which triggered fresh speculation over a possible change of guard in the state, even as chief minister

Siddaramaiah

insisted there was no discussion of politics. Rahul, on his way to Gudalur in Tamil Nadu, arrived at Mysuru’s Mandakalli airport around 2pm on a special flight. He was received by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who had earlier flown together to Mysuru.

Within minutes, Rahul left by helicopter for Gudalur, while the Chief Minister and his deputy exited the airport separately. Later, when Rahul returned to Mysuru ahead of schedule on his return to Delhi, Shivakumar reached the airport early and had a three-minute one-on-one conversation with the former AICC chief on the tarmac. Siddaramaiah joined them subsequently, after which Rahul interacted briefly with both leaders before leaving on a special flight around 5.45pm.

The exclusive exchange between Rahul and Shivakumar, coming amid sustained speculation over a possible change of guard in the state, sparked renewed political buzz. Shivakumar also shared pictures of the meeting with reporters. However, neither he nor Siddaramaiah addressed the media. Earlier, Shivakumar was present when Mysuru city police presented a guard of honour to Siddaramaiah but stayed away when the Chief Minister spoke to reporters.

Shivakumar later left for a star hotel in the city, where he briefly stayed while awaiting Rahul’s return. Siddaramaiah went to his residence in Ramakrishna Nagar. Asked about the meeting later, Siddaramaiah said, “It is the media which is speculating a change in CM, but there is no confusion or issues between Shivakumar and me. Some MLAs have spoken without knowledge. Only Shivakumar and I can speak on this. A decision on a change, if any, will be taken by the party high command and we both will abide by it.” To avoid a repeat of scenes witnessed during AICC general secretary KC Venugopal’s visit to Mangaluru airport last month — where supporters of the CM and Shivakumar shouted slogans backing their leaders for the CM post — Congress and police decided to bar party workers from entering Mysuru airport on Tuesday.