- Saturday, March 01, 2025
For the grand-old party, alienating DK Shivakumar could also have an electoral consequence, it is believed.
By: Shubham Ghosh
The Indian National Congress may have defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently held elections in the southern state of Karnataka but it is yet to pick the new chief minister between DK Shivakumar, the state party chief, and Siddaramaiah, a former chief minister of Karnataka.
On Wednesday (17), party leader Rahul Gandhi met both the leaders from the state but speculation was still rife over who would be the next chief minister.
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Meanwhile, reports said that the supporters of Siddaramaiah were seen bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets following his meeting with Gandhi. However, suspense continued and Randeep Singh Surjewala, a senior Congress parliamentarian who is in charge of Karnataka, said it could take another 48 hours for the final decision and another 24 for announcing the cabinet, NDTV reported.
The Congress emerged victorious in the election on Saturday (13) by securing a majority on its own with 135 seats in the 224-member assembly.
NDTV cited sources saying the grand-old party is closing in on naming the 75-year-old Siddaramaiah for the top post since he has the support of most of the legislators of the party and the challenge now lies to bring Shivakumar, who turned 61 on Monday (15), on board.
The latter, in a meeting with Gandhi, gave indication that he would not budge in the standoff with Siddaramaiah, the sources added. He also met Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Shivakumar, who reached Delhi a day later to meet the top leadership to fuel speculation, has claimed that he has played a big role in his party’s success in the just held elections but assured that he is not somebody who would rebel. He broke down after the Congress emerged victorious on Saturday saying senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had showed confidence in him to deliver in Karnataka. He also thanked the leader for meeting him in jail after he was arrested in a money-laundering case.
Siddaramaiah, on the other hand, has been in Delhi since Monday and meeting senior Congress leaders. He, however, refused to comment when asked about the announcement about the chief minister’s name.
The party leadership has also been told about the views of the newly elected legislators by the observers sent to Karnataka. The party is dealing with the issue even more cautiously since the general elections are due next year and it wants to draw a major inspiration from the victory in Karnataka in next year’s big battle against prime minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.
While Siddaramaiah is seen as a leader with mass appeal and has the experience of completing a full term as the chief minister, Shivakumar is known for his strong organisational capabilities.
Picking any of the two might lead to alienating the other and their support base — both within the party and out.
Shivakumar has a large following among the politically key Vokkaliga community. Siddaramaiah, on the other hand, has a strong AHINDA platform, an old social combination of minorities, Other Backward Classes, and Dalits, which had voted en masse for the grand-old party.
