Shivakumar heads to Delhi for GST Council, seeks talks with Congress leaders

UPDATE - follow-up to Karnataka Chief Minister leaves for Delhi ahead of GST Council meeting: Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar reached New Delhi on Tuesday, a day before the 57th GST Council meeting slated for Oct 8. Sources say the trip could also let him meet senior Congress leaders to hash out pending matters such as Legislative Council appointments, board and corporation nominations, and the two vacant cabinet posts. Senior Congress figures, including Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, are tied up with protests against the Election Commission, so it is unclear whether those talks will happen. Shivakumar was in Delhi a week earlier for a Congress Working Committee meeting, where he met Union Ministers and raised Karnataka's drought woes, ongoing development projects and irrigation schemes. He also handed over memoranda asking for the release of funds owed to the state. ## Context This visit follows his earlier travel to Delhi for a CWC meeting and comes ahead of a key GST Council session that will shape national tax policy.