A day after senior Congress leader and eight-time MLA Ramalinga Reddy resigned from the Karnataka Cabinet over dissatisfaction with the portfolio allocated to him, the Congress leadership on Saturday (June 6, 2026) rejected his resignation and persuaded him to continue as a Minister.

The development came after a series of meetings involving Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Congress general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, and KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Reddy said the party leadership had assured him that the concerns raised by him would be addressed at an appropriate time and made it clear that they wanted him to remain in the Cabinet.

“After the meetings, all the leaders gave me hope. The Chief Minister called me three times and met me yesterday. Mr. Surjewala met and spoke to me. They all said they wanted me to continue as a part of the Cabinet and that there was no question of accepting my resignation,” Mr. Reddy said.

He said the Chief Minister and senior Congress leaders requested him to remain in the government and assured him that the issues he had raised would be looked into in due course.

“They have rejected my resignation and I will respect the party’s decision. They asked me to continue in the Cabinet and I will do so,” Mr. Reddy said.

Late on Friday night (June 5, 2026), Mr. Shivakumar held a nearly two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Mr. Reddy at a private hotel in Jayanagar as part of efforts to resolve the issue. The discussions continued till the early hours of Saturday (June 6).

Further rounds of talks were held later in the day with Mr. Surjewala and Mr. Hariprasad, following which the Congress leadership decided to reject Mr. Reddy’s resignation, ending uncertainty over his future in the Cabinet.

A day after eight-time legislator Ramalinga Reddy sent his resignation being unhappy over portfolio allocation, Karnataka’s Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said that all problems will be sorted out.

“Mr. Reddy is my friend. We will sort it. Don’t think too much about it,” the Chief Minister told presspersons in Bengaluru after offering floral tributes to the former chief minister Late D. Devaraj Urs on June 6. He acknowledged receiving Mr. Reddy’s resignation via WhatsApp.

He refused to reveal the outcome of the meeting late on June 5 night, or any promise made to him.

Though the Chief Minister later said ‘things have been settled’, sources close to Mr. Reddy indicate that things remain where they were. Mr. Reddy, who has expressed his unhappiness over being given water resources portfolio, is likely to meet the Congress central leadership to push for his case, as the Chief Minister has said that it was the high commands decision.

Late on Friday (June 5, 2026) night, Mr. Shivakumar met Mr. Reddy for nearly two-and-a-half hours at a private hotel in Jayanagar amid efforts by the Congress leadership to persuade the veteran leader to withdraw his resignation.

The meeting went on till the wee hours of Saturday (June 6, 2026).

“This is a family matter. We will all sit together and talk. Everything has been resolved,” Mr. Shivakumar told reporters after emerging from the meeting around 1.30 am.

“He has expressed his grievance; it was a case of miscommunication. Something has happened, and we will sort it out. Don’t worry, we will run everything first-class. We have given opportunities to all senior leaders, and we will set everything right,” Mr. Shivakumar said and expressed confidence that the government would move forward unitedly.

Emphasising his long-standing association with the senior minister, he said, “Ramalinga Reddy and I have been friends since 1980. At present, I am working as the Chief Minister; earlier, I was a Minister, and he is a Minister. We are all friends.” Mr. Reddy had announced his resignation on Friday (June 5, 2026), alleging that assurances made to him regarding the Bengaluru Development portfolio had not been honoured after the allocation of portfolios in the newly formed Shivakumar government.

Asked whether he would withdraw his resignation if the Chief Minister requested him to do so, Mr. Reddy refrained from elaborating and echoed Mr. Shivakumar’s remarks.

“I am saying the same thing that he (CM) told you. Everything has been resolved. That’s all,” Mr. Reddy said.

The late-night meeting came amid intense efforts by the Congress leadership to contain discontent within the Cabinet after Mr. Reddy’s resignation triggered the first major political challenge for the three-day-old Shivakumar-led Congress government.