New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) Amidst speculations that he will be accommodated at the central level for giving support to former AICC President Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Opposition Leader Siddaramaiah has been called to the national capital by Sonia Gandhi.

However, soon after arriving at the city’s airport he made it clear that he is “not interested in national politics, but confined to Karnataka politics only.”

Speculations of party leadership egging Siddaramaiah to join national politics is making rounds when Congress-ruled states of Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, are facing rebellion in respective party units.

This is not the first time that the speculations about Siddaramaiah’s participation in national politics is being discussed within the party.

Even Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had teasingly said on the floor of the assembly that there were many within the Congress party who wanted to send Siddaramaiah to Delhi, depriving him of state politics, which he prefers over national politics.

Party sources said that the Congress leadership is very keen on Siddaramaiah contesting the Lok Sabha elections. It considers him to be an asset in national politics.

They also said the party high command also is very impressed with Siddaramaiah’s political acumen as Congress had bagged 80 seats in the last assembly elections and then denied BJP from forming the government by stitching an alliance with JDS to gain power.

This is the reason the party rewarded him by inducting him as a member of Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body in the country.

UNI