TWO OF A KIND

As Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar try to get the better of each other, Karnataka Congress is a divided house

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

The power tussle in Karnataka between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the president of the party in the state, seems to have reached a crescendo, with some ministers and party legislators openly demanding a change of guard in the government and the party.

The Siddaramaiah camp has revived its demand to appoint deputy chief ministers from other castes and a new state party chief citing the ‘one man, one post’ rule. The Shivakumar camp has called for the replacement of the chief minister, reminding the high command of the power sharing formula.

At the heart of the conflict is a ‘secret pact’ for power sharing mooted by the Congress high command in May 2023 to placate the top two contenders for the chief minister’s post after the party wrested power from the BJP. After a thumping victory, 135 of 224 seats, a bitter battle broke out between the two leaders, forcing the party leadership to arrive at the peace formula to end the stalemate. Accordingly, Siddaramaiah, a mass leader and Kuruba leader who holds sway over the AHINDA (minorities, dalits and backward classes) voters, became chief minister and Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga strongman, was appointed deputy chief minister. Shivakumar was also allowed to retain the state party chief’s post.

The demand for multiple deputy chief ministers has been on since then, and it gained momentum prior to the Lok Sabha polls. Cooperation Minister K.N. Rajanna urged the party leadership to appoint one deputy chief minister each from Lingayats, dalits and the minorities. But the party leadership put the foot down and the factions were forced to put up a united front. After the Lok Sabha polls, however, the demand resurfaced. Shivakumar loyalists see this move as an effort to diminish his stature in the party. The strategy, they say, is to dissuade him from staking the claim to the top post by weakening his position in the party.