Mysuru: Chief minister DK Shivakumar’s unscheduled Friday night visit to predecessor Siddaramaiah’s house in Mysuru has set off speculation in state politics, coming as the sting operation row continues to rock Congress and its govt.Shivakumar drove straight to Siddaramaiah’s new residence in Kuvempu Nagar after attending Cauvery aarti at KRS in Mandya. He skipped the Yuva Dasara event he was scheduled to attend, reaching the house at 10.16pm and staying till 11.25pm. The two are said to have held a one-on-one meeting over dinner. Neither disclosed what was discussed, and Shivakumar left for Bengaluru around midnight.The visit came a day after the cabinet discussed the controversy for over an hour and left it to Shivakumar to decide on the next course of action. The cabinet did not order a separate special investigation team, opting to allow ongoing police investigation to continue for now. Shivakumar subsequently said he had left the matter to the home department.Earlier on Friday, four ministers from Shivakumar’s cabinet, including home minister Priyank Kharge, met Siddaramaiah at his Mysuru residence.These meetings assume significance against the backdrop of allegations by Union minister HD Kumaraswamy that Shivakumar was behind the alleged sting operation to force Siddaramaiah out of the CM’s post. Shivakumar has denied the claims and investigators have not established his involvement.HDK leads JD(S) march, seeks actionUnion minister HD Kumaraswamy Saturday led hundreds of JD(S) workers in a padayatra to the office of DGP MA Saleem, demanding swift action against those involved in the alleged sting operation controversy. After submitting a memorandum, Kumaraswamy questioned Siddaramaiah’s response, asking why his “blood was not boiling” over remarks about him in the video.He alleged that the sting operation was intended to tarnish Siddaramaiah’s image and demanded an investigation into the circumstances in which it was recorded. He also questioned the alleged leak of information about sting operations targeting ministers, claiming that details discussed at a cabinet meeting had subsequently reached the media.
