Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy and principal challenger, D.K. Shivakumar, got into a war of words Thursday, intensifying the ongoing leadership tussle in the southern state.
Shivakumar put out a cryptic post on X which was interpreted as his way of reminding the high command to honour its promise to replace Siddaramaiah midway during the current term.
“Word Power is World Power–The biggest force in the world was to keep one’s word. Be it a judge, president or anyone else has to walk the talk…,” it read.
He refused to acknowledge the post and denied it completely.
ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಮಾತು ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದೇ ವಿಶ್ವದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಶಕ್ತಿ! pic.twitter.com/klregNRUtv
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) November 27, 2025
He told the media later that he did not put up the post. He hasn’t deleted it, though.
Hours later, Siddaramaiah gave this a spin. “A Word is not power unless it betters the World for the people…,” he posted on X. In the long post, he spoke about the five guarantees, the promises he kept in his first term in office (2013-2018) and assurance that all assurances he gave in the manifesto will be “fulfilled with commitment, credibility, and care.”
A Word is not power unless it betters the World for the people.
Proud to declare that the Shakti scheme has delivered over 600 crore free trips to the women of our state. From the very first month of forming the government, we transformed our guarantees into action; not in… pic.twitter.com/lke1J7MnbD
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 27, 2025
The poster readL “our word to Karnataka is not a slogan, it means the world to us.”
The cryptic exchanges came on the day that the Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha (RVS) threw its weight behind Shivakumar’s bid to replace Siddaramaiah as the chief minister.
“We as the Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha are demanding that D.K. Shivakumar be given his wages (rewarded) for the work and hardships he has endured to bring the party (Congress) to power,” L. Srinivas, newly appointed president of the body, told reporters in Bengaluru Thursday.
The RVS is an outfit of the dominant land-owning Vokkaliga community in southern Karnataka which has a large presence in Bengaluru. Shivakumar hails from the community.
According to Srinivas, there was suspicion about whether the Congress high command would “honour” its promise to make Shivakumar the CM midway in the current term.
Srinivas laced his demand with a warning that the RVS would launch intense state-wide protests if the high command did not yield to the demand.
The subtle threats from the RVS are the latest to weigh on the leadership discourse in Karnataka. Over the past few days, community leaders, seers, MLAs and others have all aired their views on this critical issue facing the state’s ruling Congress.
Though Shivakumar has publicly shown signs of ceding to Siddaramaiah, people aware of developments said the deputy CM is only upping the ante.
The Congress high command had brokered a peace deal between the two leaders in May 2023, assuring that both would take turns as state CM.
But both leaders have taken contrasting positions on the issue. Siddaramaiah has publicly stated multiple times that he will complete his full term in the saddle while Shivakumar has wavered in his stand. He has acknowledged the existence of a “secret deal” and even backed Siddaramaiah’s words, at least in public.
The deputy CM posted a cryptic message on X Thursday from his official handle, a poster which read: “Word Power is World Power–The biggest force in the world was to keep one’s word. Be it a judge, president or anyone else has to walk the talk.”
ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಮಾತು ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದೇ ವಿಶ್ವದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಶಕ್ತಿ! pic.twitter.com/klregNRUtv
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) November 27, 2025
He told the media later that he did not put up the post. He hasn’t deleted it, though.
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‘Will call everyone to Delhi’
In the last two years, several backward class groups have rallied behind Siddaramaiah, threatening widespread protests if the Congress chose to replace him as CM.
Siddaramaiah is from the Kuruba community, traditionally shepherds, who are among the most backward in the state but are also very active politically. The 77-year-old is also projected as the champion of backward classes, social justice, and challenging the dominance enjoyed by the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, believed to be the two biggest caste groups in the state.
There also exist splinter groups demanding that G. Parameshwara, Satish Jarkiholi and Mallikarjuna Kharge be made Karnataka CM if Siddaramaiah has to be replaced.
But the fight is largely between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
“He (Shivakumar) has worked hard and is a disciplined soldier of the party. That he should also get an opportunity is demanded by everyone and leaders have also voiced their support. In the next 2.5 years, give him the opportunity to be CM and lead his vision to build the state,” Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji of Adichunchanagiri Mutt said Wednesday.
At least two other prominent Vokkaliga seers have made similar demands.
In Karnataka, it is not uncommon for seers representing specific caste and sub-caste groups to make political demands. The prominent seers command significant influence over hundreds of thousands of people as most of them run educational institutions, hospitals and other organisations that are accessed by members outside the community as well.
K.N. Rajanna, former minister and senior Congress MLA, however, said it was not “appropriate” for seers to interfere in politics.
“According to me, seers must stick to social work and spread the word of their religion. They may be associated with leaders across political parties, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for them to interfere in politics,” he told reporters.
The Congress has been unable to quell the growing voices, including those from its own ranks.
MLAs and ministers have openly sided with one or the other camp, going against the party’s diktat.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Kharge Thursday said he would hold discussions on the way forward.
“Will call everyone to Delhi to discuss the issue. (Senior party leader) Rahul Gandhi will be part of that discussion as well. The CM and deputy CM will also be part of it. After calling all these people and discussing the issue, we will take a decision,” he told reporters in Bengaluru Thursday before he departed to Delhi.
Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have said they will also go to Delhi if called by the high command.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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