Bengaluru, Apr 1 (PTI) BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress in Karnataka is on a “short break” due to bypolls, and claimed that the state is headed towards a “political wrestling” for the Chief Minister’s chair in May.

Alleging that corruption was rampant in the state, he said there appears to be a competition within the government over who can “loot” more.

The former Chief Minister made the remarks during a campaign for BJP candidate Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Davanagere South bypolls.

“Siddaramaiah says his government is politically stable. If you open the newspapers, every day there are reports about the CM and Deputy CM. One says that he won’t quit the chair, while the other says he will certainly take the chair,” Bommai said.

Addressing the gathering, he said, “There is a fight for chair (CM chair) daily. As elections were announced, there is a short break. Write it down: in May, as is said in North Karnataka, there will be a ‘Jangi Nikali Kusti’ for the chair in Karnataka.

“Jangi Nikali Kusti means wrestling where one person remains standing and the other does not. There will be a political Jangi Nikali Kusti in the state,” he added.

Bommai’s statement came a day after CM Siddaramaiah asserted that the Congress government will remain in power for two more years, and that he will be the Chief Minister of the state.

The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025.

The speculation has been fuelled by the reported “power-sharing” arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar at the time of government formation in 2023.

Alleging rampant corruption in the state, Bommai claimed that the corruption was taking place right under the Chief Minister’s nose, and he was silently supporting it.

“There seems to be a competition in the state as to who will loot more between the Chief Minister, Deputy CM and Ministers in the cabinet,” he added.

Refuting Siddaramaiah’s claims that his government is stable economically and politically, the former CM asked, “If you are economically stable, why was about Rs 15,000 crore from the budget not spent? You don’t have money, so you have not spent. The CM thinks that if he lies loudly, it will become the truth.” Noting that the people of Davanagere South assembly constituency have a lucky opportunity for removing the “evil Congress government,” Bommai appealed to the voters to change the state’s political course by ensuring that the BJP candidates win the by-election by a big margin.

“You should write a forward in this bypolls to bring a pro-people BJP government to power in the state (in 2028),” he told the voters.

Bypolls for the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9. The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, respectively. PTI KSU ROH