Bengaluru: After months of speculation and unending conjecture, the Congress appears to have decided to replace Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with his deputy D.K. Shivakumar, ThePrint has learnt.
At least two people directly aware of the developments confirmed that a leadership change is likely at the earliest. “There will be a change but there is no clarity on when,” said one of them, requesting anonymity.
A senior Congress leader from Karnataka, present in Delhi on Tuesday, confirmed to ThePrint that it “looks like a change in leadership” is happening.
However, both people cited above, added that the terms and conditions of Siddaramaiah stepping down are yet to be finalised.
This comes after the top Congress leadership met Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for a marathon meeting at Indira Bhavan, the Congress party’s headquarters in New Delhi.
The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who held one-on-one meeting with Siddaramaiah, is said to have conveyed the message to him.
Though speculation is rife that Siddaramaiah has been offered a national role, it remains unclear at this moment if the 77-year-old will accept it, given his previously stated preference for remaining in state politics.
Shivakumar, who has repeatedly requested the Congress high command to honour its 2023 promise of replacing Siddaramaiah with him, smiled on his way out of the meeting with the high command but declined to comment on the issue.
However, his gestures of putting his thumbs up while waving his hands to decline speaking to the media, were interpreted as him finally getting his way.
The likely elevation of Shivakumar also clears the way for a long-pending Cabinet reshuffle. Shivakumar currently dons many hats, including heading the state Congress, Deputy chief ministership, with additional portfolios like Bengaluru development and irrigation.
The dynamics of the Cabinet is also likely to change with team Siddaramaiah expected to demand plum portfolios for his supporters, people aware of the developments said.
Several ministerial aspirants from the Congress have repeatedly travelled to Delhi in the hope of being considered for a role in the government. Questions also remain on a possible change in the state Congress unit, Siddaramaiah’s new role and if there will be one or multiple Deputy CMs in the next cabinet.
Also Read: DK says Siddaramaiah to be Karnataka CM for 5 yrs. Why Congress high command can’t replace him
One chair, multiple theories
The leadership issue has surfaced frequently in Karnataka ever since the Congress stormed to power in May 2023. The issue has dominated the political narrative, creating an environment of an uneasy peace within the party’s state unit. After the election results were announced, the Congress high command managed to end the deadlock on the CM race, announcing that the two leaders agreed to take turns ruling the state.
However, statements by both the camps in favour of their leaders only added to the political drama and debates around the leadership issue.
Earlier Tuesday, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar travelled to Delhi in separate aircraft.
In his special plane, Siddaramaiah was accompanied by at least a dozen senior state Congress leaders, including his cabinet colleagues G.Parameshwara, Satish Jarikiholi, M.B.Patil and Byrathi Suresh.
Shivakumar took a commercial flight and most of his overt supporters, who are otherwise quite vocal in backing his bid to replace Siddaramaiah, remained in Bengaluru and maintained a stoic silence on the topic.
After their meeting with the high command, Siddaramaiah went to his energy minister K.J. George’s house in New Delhi, where he met the leaders who had accompanied him to the national capital.
Shivakumar, meanwhile, headed to his home in Safdarjung. He declined to speak to the media, and also asked reporters not to follow him into the elevator at his home.
Shivakumar waved off the media to signal he wouldn’t speak, but still gave the thumbs-up gesture. He then stopped the lift doors from closing, and specifically requested that the gesture not be interpreted in any other way.
One close aide of Siddaramaiah said that the chief minister would return to Bengaluru Tuesday night.
Earlier, people aware of the developments indicated that Siddaramaiah was unwilling make way for Shivakumar, giving several arguments, including that he is the only OBC CM among all Congress-ruled states and replacing him with Shivakumar, who is from the dominant Vokkaliga community, does not fit well with Rahul Gandhi’s social justice campaign.
One suggested compromise was that Shivakumar be given a bigger share of the portfolios in an imminent cabinet reshuffle as well as a Rajya Sabha seat for his brother, Suresh.
Several other theories were floating around, including Siddaramaiah proposing Parameshwara as his replacement and even Mallikarjun Kharge returning as the chief minister.
Political volatility continues
The Congress government has released a 130-page report card on its three years in power, but its overall performance continues to be impeded by a plethora of challenges.
The Congress party secured a thumping majority in the 2023 polls, winning 135 of the 224 seats it contested. But the party has been criticised for not making the most of its mandate and indulging more in infighting, factionalism and other challenges rather than effecting reforms.
“Despite a full majority, they have operated like a coalition government,” Sugata Srinivasraju, author and political analyst, earlier told ThePrint.
This battle for dominance, he added, has resulted in the government becoming “dysfunctional” in the last year. “If you don’t know how to handle success, then it starts destroying the party.”
Meanwhile, the Opposition in Karnataka took a dig at the ruling party for “neglecting” governance and indulging only in a power tussle.
“They came to power just to fight over the CM chair, to sit lobbying in Delhi, now the people understand!” B.Y.Vijayendra, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said in a post.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Feud over Karnataka CM post far from over: Siddaramaiah gives spin to Shivakumar’s cryptic post