The Congress high command in New Delhi on Tuesday said the day-long discussions with Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar here were entirely focused on the upcoming Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections amid speculation of a possible leadership change in the state.

Rumour mills were agog about Siddaramaiah being asked to step down and move to the Rajya Sabha in a repeat of the trajectory recently followed by former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. However, there was no official word from either the central leadership or the two bigwigs of Karnataka Congress, who have periodically flexed their muscles for the post of chief minister. Siddaramaiah is said to have sought some time to take a decision.

Siddaramaiah, who commands a larger section of the legislators in the Assembly, is apparently being considered for a bigger role in the party’s central unit with a Rajya Sabha seat thrown in. But reports suggest that he is not interested in moving to the Upper House.

These indications came after back-to-back meetings at Indira Bhavan between the central leadership and Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar separately and jointly. In between, photographs emerged of the two Karnataka leaders sitting in a room alone. The only official word from the Congress came from AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who insisted that there was no reality in the speculation that dominated the news all day.

“Today, we had a detailed meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. Chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar, the general secretary in charge of Karnataka and I were part of the discussion. The entire discussion was concentrated only on the coming Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections in Karnataka. Whatever speculation you people are doing is only speculation; no reality at all,” Venugopal told reporters with both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar standing next to him.

Of the four Rajya Sabha seats getting vacant in Karnataka, the Congress can win three seats and the BJP one. Kharge’s Rajya Sabha seat falls vacant in June and he is likely to be re-elected from Karnataka. The party may also field Shivakumar’s brother D.K. Suresh as one of the Rajya Sabha candidates, as well as a woman or an OBC nominee.

Earlier, there were indications that the Congress high command preferred not to upset the apple cart in Karnataka till the elections were over. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also roped into the discussions on an issue that has kept the Karnataka Congress on the boil for months, particularly since last year-end when the government hit its halfway mark.

The Shivakumar lobby insists that he was promised chief ministership for the second half of the government, which assumed office in 2023.

In the morning, Siddaramaiah held a breakfast meeting with his loyalist group of ministers at Karnataka Bhavan. Speculation gathered steam that there would be a leadership change as the fight between the two warring leaders had spread to the streets, causing a huge headache for the Congress high command.

It is also learnt that Siddaramaiah told the leadership that if he was being removed from office, the new chief minister should be of his choice. He had proposed the name of his home minister, G. Parameshwara.