The power tussle between Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar intensified on Friday, leaving the Congress high command scrambling to find a solution palatable to both the warring leaders.

Speculation is rife that the Congress leadership is planning to induct one MLA each from both camps into the cabinet and let Siddaramaiah present his 17th budget next year before making way for Shivakumar as the chief minister. The talks are scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Saturday.

In an X post on Thursday, Shivakumar had taken a veiled jibe at the Congress high command for failing to keep its word on the purported 2.5-year power-sharing deal agreed upon after the 2023 Assembly elections.

On Friday, Siddaramaiah appeared to be retaliating against Shivakumar’s post. “Our word to Karnataka is not a slogan, it means the world to us,” Siddaramaiah wrote on X.

He also listed the projects he had undertaken and expressed his intention to complete his full tenure.

Shivakumar on Friday recalled how Sonia Gandhi had “sacrificed power” by elevating Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. “APJ Abdul Kalam, then President of India, invited Sonia Gandhi to become the Prime Minister after the United Progressive Alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha election. But she sacrificed power and instead anointed Manmohan Singh,” he said.

He urged the people of Karnataka to “always remain with the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah”.

Leaders from both camps have also stepped up their attacks on each other. While Siddaramaiah was targeted for his family’s alleged involvement in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) land scam, Shivakumar’s adversaries accused him of being pro-BJP.

A Congress source in Karnataka told The Telegraph that party president Mallikarjun Kharge had urged Rahul Gandhi to resolve the crisis over the weekend.

“The Congress leadership can neither disown Siddaramaiah nor endorse Shivakumar. The formula the leadership has hatched is to include a minister from each of the two camps in the cabinet to appease the two leaders. That way, Siddaramaiah can present his 17th budget next year, and Shivakumar can succeed him after that,” said a Congress source.

The BJP is likely to push a non-confidence motion against the Siddaramaiah government in the winter session of the Assembly, scheduled to begin on December 8.

Amid the escalating power struggle, the chief minister and his deputy on Friday attended the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) golden jubilee event at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru.