Internal bickering is more than a disease in Congress. It is often described more as a habit. Notwithstanding a convincing win in Karnataka elections, the party is now afflicted with factional infighting between the camps of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and State unit president D K Shivakumar.
The party is still undecided on who would be Chief Minister in the key Southern State. D K Shivakumar called off his trip to Delhi, but his brother and party MP D K Suresh arrived in the national capital on May 15 and said that he wanted to see his brother as the Chief Minister.
“I want my brother to be the Chief Minister,” he told the media after meeting Congress President Malikarjun Kharge. The AICC president has been authorised to nominate the CLP leader to be sworn in as the Congress Chief Minister.
The grand old party won 135 seats in the 224-member assembly. This is the second-best performance by Congress in Karnataka after the 178 seats it won in the 1989 elections when veteran Veerendra Patil was at the helm.
It is also paradoxical that Veerendra Patil too was later humiliated by Late Rajiv Gandhi and was asked to quit in a dictatorial method, and President’s Rule was imposed in Karnataka. The CPI(M) had regretted the misuse of Article 356, and BJP veteran L K Advani had termed it a hasty decision.
Now, reports have surfaced that D K Shivakumar reportedly has the backing of Sonia Gandhi and also Priyanka Gandhi, while Siddaramaiah is banking on the support of a large number of MLAs and perhaps also support from the Rahul Gandhi camp.
On May 15, three central observers met Malikarjun Kharge at his residence.
Former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, general secretary Jitendra Singh and party leader Deepak Babaria met Malikarjun Kharge in the presence of K C Venugopal and general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Sushil Kumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria had taken the views of the newly elected MLAs in Bengaluru in one-on-one interactions late on May 14 night.
On the prospects of either Siddaramaiah or D K Shivakumar, Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain said: “Both of them are senior leaders and both of them fought from the front, both of them have strengthened the Congress, both of them have built the campaign…but only one can become the Chief Minister”.
Siddaramaiah is a mass leader and the only Karnataka Chief Minister to have completed a full term in 45 years, between 2013 and 2018. D K Shivakumar is an organisation man and is a key leader from the Vokkaliga community.
However, there are corruption cases against D K Shivakumar before IT, ED and CBI. He also served a jail term in Tihar. He may not have much backing from other communities.
“Under my leadership, we have 135 MLAs, all in one voice, said that the matter (to appoint CM) is to be left to the party’s high command. My aim was to deliver Karnataka and I did it,” D K Shivakumar told the media in Bengaluru on May 14.
Former CM Siddaramaiah arrived in Delhi on May 15 to meet the top leadership of the party.
The further marginalisation of JD(S) led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy, also a former CM of Karnataka, means the grip of the family on Vokkaliga voters is over.
This has changed the game a lot on ground zero of Karnataka politics as Congress State president D K Shivakumar is also a Vokkaliga leader. In the run-up to the polls, he could keep the party united, and so he would be expecting to be rewarded.
In 2018, Sachin Pilot had played the role for Rajasthan Congress that D K Shivakumar played in Karnataka this year. But all is not well between Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The pilot was promised Chief Ministership after two-and-half years, but Ashok Gehlot has declined to step aside, and Congress high command obliged him last year, frustrating Sachin Pilot.
Now, all may not be good between D K Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Karnataka as well.
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