Bengaluru, Jan 12 (AHN) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that the party high command will summon Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to Delhi "whenever there is a necessity".

Interacting with reporters at his residence here, Kharge, to a question of the leadership issue in the state and when both leaders will be called, said: "Whenever there is a necessity, we will call them to Delhi."

Meanwhile, sources said that Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief, held a 45-minute conversation with Kharge.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister are travelling together to Kalaburagi, the native place of Kharge, where they attend a series of meetings.

Sources also said that both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister are scheduled to meet the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, at Mysuru airport briefly on Tuesday. Rahul Gandhi is travelling to the hill station of Ooty in Tamil Nadu to attend a private programme.

Sources stated that the infighting within the Congress is likely to come out in the open after the Sankranti festival.

Deputy CM Shivakumar has been seeking an appointment with Rahul Gandhi for a long time and is likely to hold a private conversation during the meeting of Congress observers appointed for Assembly elections in various states. Rahul Gandhi is chairing the meeting in Delhi, and Shivakumar is hopeful of meeting him separately. Sources close to him said that he may travel to Delhi on January 16 and again on January 22.

Shivakumar has been appointed as the party observer for the Assam Assembly elections and is expected to discuss the political situation in Karnataka and the confusion over the Chief Minister’s post with Rahul Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Kharge, commenting on Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s criticism of the Congress over the alleged scrapping of MGNREGA, said he would not respond to baseless statements. He said MGNREGA guarantees the Right to Work and was enacted under the leadership of then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the benefit of the poor. He alleged that the Centre was weakening the scheme and disrupting works at the panchayat level.

Kharge further said that the Centre had changed the funding ratio from 90:10 to 60:40, placing an additional burden of 30 per cent on states. "This shows their intention to eventually stop MGNREGA. They want to remove the Right to Education, Right to Food Security, and Right to Work," he alleged.

He said that those who criticise MGNREGA by citing corruption should remember that audits are conducted by the Centre and the Comptroller and Auditor General. "Assets have been created under the scheme—lakes have been repaired, school buildings and anganwadis have been constructed. Opposing such a scheme is anti-people," he said.

Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of cutting funds meant for the poor while allocating more resources to corporates. "Instead of helping the poor, the Centre has reduced funds by 30 per cent," he alleged.

“I condemn this, and we will launch an agitation on this issue and take it to its logical conclusion,” Kharge said.

Responding to a question on developments in West Bengal, Kharge said that across the country, the BJP was using the pretext of SIR to defeat the Opposition. He said that in this context, Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue of alleged "vote theft" and that the Congress has taken up the matter seriously.