India, May 27 -- The Congress attempted to resolve a longstanding impasse in Karnataka with marathon meetings on Tuesday between the party leadership and chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, with people aware of the matter saying the high command pushed the former to step aside but he was weighing his options.

Officially, the party said discussions were on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and polls in the Karnataka legislative council. Siddaramaiah, too, denied reports that discussions had taken place on changing the CM. But the people cited above said party chief Mallikarjun Kharge told Siddaramaiah that the latter needed to step down and make way for a new leadership. However, the 77-year-old leader refused to ac...