Karnataka Congress Faces Strain: Siddaramaiah Unwilling To Quit, DK Shivakumar Won’t Yield | Politics News

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (R) with Deputy CM DK Shivakumar. (PTI/File)

Will he or won’t he? Will Siddaramaiah quit the CM post for his deputy DK Shivakumar? If he does not, what will DKS do? Will DKS topple the government and leave the Congress or accept his fate? These are unending questions that need to be answered.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has completed two and a half years in office on Thursday and Shivakumar had been hoping that he would be appointed as the next chief minister. It’s business as usual for Siddaramaiah and he flew to his hometown Mysore to attend a few scheduled events. A huffing and puffing Shivakumar stayed at his house in Bengaluru making his extreme disappointment with the chief minister public.

According to his camp, after the 2023 Assembly elections landslide victory, Siddaramaiah had agreed to hand over the reins of power to Shivakumar after completing two and a half years in office and DKS had reluctantly accepted that deal. He is now adamant that the chief minister honour the agreement.

Siddaramaiah’s camp denies any such deals saying that he was appointed for the full five-year term and there is no question of him leaving the office for DKS. The ministers and MLAs backing Siddaramaiah and the ones who have been identified with DKS are making frequent trips to New Delhi to lobby with the Congress high command for their respective leaders.

After the Bihar debacle, the completely demoralised party bosses are in no mood to rock the Karnataka boat and have adopted a wait and watch approach. This has frustrated DKS and he is sending subtle signals that he won’t keep quiet for long.

Speaking to reporters, he said, “I wish Siddaramaiah good luck who says he will be the CM for the full five year term. I never lobbied for the position, and I am the president of all 140 Congress MLAs.”

Just to postpone the inevitable, Siddaramaiah is trying hard to get the party high command’s approval for the Cabinet reshuffle. An alarmed Shivakumar is opposing that, fearing a reshuffle will end his CM dream, allowing Siddaramaiah to continue in office.

A third faction in the party is hoping that the Siddaramaiah versus DKS fight will benefit them. There are also talks of making AICC president M Mallikarjun Kharge or State Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara the next CM. This faction feels Siddaramaiah might agree to vacate his position for someone else, but not DKS.

But DKS loyalists argue that denial of his rightful demand might force him to leave the party with his supporters bringing down the government. They cite the examples of Scindia’s revolt against Kamal Nath in MP and Sachin Pilot’s unsuccessful coup in Rajasthan.

They also feel that continuing with the ageing Siddaramaiah would be counterproductive in the 2028 Assembly elections and DKS is the only leader who can take on the united force of BJP and JDS.

If the high command does not make a final decision on the leadership at the earliest, the party will pay a heavy price for its indecision. But how long can Siddaramaiah stay, and DKS wait before he makes his big move is the question everyone is asking.