Bengaluru: After four days of suspense, Siddaramaiah has emerged victorious, pipping D.K. Shivakumar to secure the position of the next chief minister of Karnataka. The decision was made by the Congress high command Thursday.
Following intense negotiations — during which both leaders had been steadfast in their demand for the top job — Congress state chief Shivakumar finally gave in and agreed to play second fiddle to Siddaramaiah. A close aide of Shivakumar described his decision to ThePrint as “another sacrifice” for the party.
The consensus was reached at 2 am Thursday. Both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are camped in Delhi along with their supporters.
The party high command burned the midnight oil to come up with a solution, according to which the two leaders are expected to take turns as CM to serve equal terms, at least two persons directly aware of the developments told ThePrint.
“Shivakumar will be Deputy CM (right now) and after two and a half years, take over as CM,” said a close aide of the incumbent state Congress president.
According to another one of his aides, Shivakumar will be the “only Deputy CM” in Karnataka and the oath taking ceremony will be held on 20 May. Earlier reports had suggested that the state may get more than one deputy CM.
Speaking to India Today Thursday morning, Shivakumar said: “We have a commitment to the people of Karnataka. Parliament elections are ahead. What to do? I have to bow to the AICC President and Gandhi family’s decision.”
When asked if he is okay with the power-sharing deal, he said, “Why Not? You see, sometimes you need to relent. Ultimately our responsibility and commitment towards the people of Karnataka is higher. We have to deliver.”
Though Siddaramaiah had a majority of the Congress MLAs voting for him, the decision was delayed after Shivakumar dug in his heels and refused to agree to any decision that would add uncertainty to his own CM aspirations.
Siddaramaiah will be sworn in first and the Congress party will face the 2024 assembly elections under his leadership while Shivakumar is expected to take over sometime in 2025, said sources.
This is the second time that Siddaramaiah has emerged winner in the race to lead the state. In 2013, Siddaramaiah became the chief minister after Mallikarjun Kharge backed out of the race and G. Parameshwara lost from Koratagere.
This time around, he faced stiff competition from state party chief Shivakumar, who was credited with revitalising the cadre, unifying the party and strengthening its roots to build momentum before the 2023 assembly election.
Shivakumar was offered the role of deputy CM, six key portfolios and asked to remain the president of the state unit, but he was unwilling to accept these terms unless he was assured the top chair.
The state party president has convened a legislature party meeting Thursday at 7 pm in Bengaluru. The party high command has ruled out more Deputy CMs that was intended to give representation to leaders.
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The two-horse race
In this election, the Congress breached H.D. Deve Gowda’s Vokkaliga stronghold in South Karnataka, winning 47 out of 73 constituencies in the region. The credit was given to Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, who was seen as a strong chief ministerial contender.
Although the shift of Vokkaliga voters from the JD(S) to the Congress is a major plus in the long run, the party opted for Siddaramaiah who is from the OBC Kuruba community.
Siddaramaiah is the most popular Congress leader in Karnataka with a significant following among the OBCs and Dalits, among other sections. His elevation is likely to consolidate the support of these communities behind the Congress in the run up to the next year’s Lok Sabha election.
After the Congress won 135 of the total 224 seats in the 10 May election, it had opened up a two-horse race for claiming the top chair in Karnataka. The victory has also raised hope for the Congress’ national revival ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
It remained unclear how the Congress would accommodate Shivakumar — who has long nursed a dream of becoming CM — in the new government. It remains to be seen if the high command can assuage his aspirations and contain the possibility of a full-blown rebellion like being witnessed in Rajasthan.
In 2018, Siddaramaiah took nearly a year, under pressure from the national leadership, to include Shivakumar into the cabinet as the minister for energy.
Shivakumar had cancelled his earlier plan to travel to Delhi Monday evening, saying that he had a stomach infection.
“I am not taking anyone (to Delhi) nor do I claim to have any numbers. Let anyone take anyone but I won’t do that. I don’t want anyone’s support. I have done my duty,” the eight-time MLA told reporters, visibly dejected.
He said that there are 135 Congress MLAs but all for the party and none that he claimed as support for himself.
The PCC chief said that he had been likened to a ‘bande‘ (boulder) before and said that it was up to the central leadership to break it, use it as a stepping stone, crush it into powder, or any way they see fit.
The two heavyweights battled it out to be seen as the next CM in the run up to the Karnataka election, but had set aside their differences to put up a united front ahead of the polls. A Congress leader said that the duo had a “working relationship” and were focused on winning the polls.
While there were several groups supporting both leaders, prominent Vokkaliga seers demanded that Shivakumar be made chief minister as he was able to get the community’s votes for the Congress in the Old Mysuru region.
In a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting Sunday, the opinions of all MLAs were sought and the party passed a one-line resolution authorising national president Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the next CLP leader. There were proposals of ‘power-sharing’ between the two
leaders to end the stalemate.
Sources within the party told ThePrint that Siddaramaiah insisted that the national observers declare him as the CM since he had the support of over half the MLAs. The Varuna MLA left for Delhi Monday afternoon, while Shivakumar later cancelled his plan to go to the national capital.
Record awaits Siddaramaiah
Siddaramaiah, 75, is one of three CMs to have completed a full five-year term in office in the state. He now has an opportunity to beat Devaraj Urs’ record of the longest serving chief minister in Karnataka. Urs held the office for a total of seven years and 239 days in two terms.
Siddaramaiah had adopted the same political strategy as Urs’ with his AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) push by which he challenged the dominant caste theory.
This year, Siddaramaiah won from Varuna where he secured 60.09 per cent of the vote share against V. Somanna of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though he was insistent on contesting from Kolar, the party fielded him from Varuna. In the process, Siddaramaiah had to unseat his son Yathindra, who had won there in 2018.
Born in Siddaramanahundi in Mysuru district, Siddaramaiah first contested on a Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket from Chamundeshwari and entered the Karnataka assembly in 1983. He later joined the Janata Party and became the first president of the Kannada Kavalu Samiti (Kannada Surveillance Committee) that was set up to supervise the implementation of Kannada as an official language.
In 1985 mid-term polls, he was re-elected and became the minister for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services under then chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde’s cabinet. He has since helmed many such departments. Known to be astute in finances, Siddaramaiah has presented a record 13 budgets in his long political career.
A prodigy of Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah was expelled from the Janata Dal (Secular) and joined the Congress in 2006. The same year, he contested from Chamundeshwari and won with a margin of just 257 votes against M. Shivabasappa of the JD(S).
Since then, the leader from Mysuru has been the leader of the opposition, the chairman of the coordination committee (2018-19), appointed to the central working committee (CWC) and has been serving as legislature party leader since 2019.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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