With Lok Sabha elections a few months away, the state Congress is facing teething problems in fighting the poll battle as a cohesive unit and there are indications that it may go the Rajasthan way. Though chief minister Siddaramaiah held a breakfast meeting with a dozen ministers to present a united face on Saturday, it’s no secret that the party has divided into two camps. A section of leaders supports Siddaramaiah, while the other rallies behind Shivakumar. According to a senior functionary, there are mounting concerns that infighting may doom the party in the state if the BJP, which is visibly weak now, regains form post Lok Sabha polls, as the undercurrents of denial of the CM’s role to DK Shivakumar are still at play. Sensing this, the high command, which had earlier ignored public utterances of ministers and MLAs, be it on leadership change or the appointment of more deputy chief ministers, has finally stepped in to end the infighting. This comes amid signs that their differences are touching sensitive subregional and caste faultlines ahead of the elections. A concerned leadership has not just decided to clamp down on ministers and MLAs for public squabbles; it has reportedly given a clear warning to the groups to sink their differences and focus on polls. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC general secretary in-charge of the organization KC Venugopal have directed Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar “to go together,” keeping the larger interest of the party in mind. Siddaramaiah is said to have organised a breakfast meeting with ministers on Saturday at the behest of Kharge and Venugopal, party insiders said. This is not the first time that the Congress has witnessed acrimony in its camp. It has been happening ever since Siddaramaiah took charge on May 20, after the high command, after holding several rounds of talks, convinced Shivakumar to give up the CM role with a “secret pact”. However, Siddaramaiah, who had maintained a sturdy silence on the issue, opened Pandora’s box on Friday after he gave into media pressure and told them that he would continue as the chief minister for five years, only to retract his statement later. This has cast some doubts even among those who strongly believed that Shivakumar had no chance of becoming the chief minister.