Bihar election results are keenly watched by the country but for Karnataka it is keener than the rest of the country, as the November is the anticipated month for a change of guard in the state and locals calling it as November Revolution. With intense lobbying by the factions of CM Siddaramaiah (Siddu) and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar (DKS) lobbying for retention of the post and elevation to the CM chair respectively, the fight appears to be to finish and that’s why the political observers labelled it as ‘revolution’. In fact it is the Congress leaders themselves who are adding intensity to the November Revolution through their statements.
While DKS faction is forthright in their demand for a change and CM post for their man, the statements emanating from the Siddu group is contradictory and confusing signals. CM Siddu repeatedly mentions about his ‘five year term CM’ idea his supporters including his own son indicates the imminent change in leadership. Both the groups try to please the high command of the party while making deft moves at the local level. That the party President Mallikarjuna Kharge belongs to Karnataka is adding flavour and suspense to the anticipated November Revolution.
Speculation on the change of CM is there for many months, this time it gathered momentum with son of CM Siddu, Yathindra, current MLC, former MLA an stating that his “father is at the fag end of his political career and will not contest next elections” and venturing to name of his father’s confident minister, Satish Jarkiholi being the suitable replacement. As Siddu’s son is junior in party structure to make such a statement and the high command not initiating any action against Yathindra, or denied any move on the change in leadership in Karnataka added flavour to the speculated November Revolution.
None in the state is ready to believe that CM Siddu’s son made that controversial statement on his own. “No action on Siddu’s son for the statement” from the Congress high command confirms the connivance of national President Mallikarjuna Kharge, as both Siddu and Kharge are collective votaries of AHINDA, a socio-political combination of Muslims, Backward castes and Scheduled caste voters. This AHINDA combination wish to have the CM post among themselves thus opposing the return of that post to the so called forward castes of Vokkaligas and Lingayats. That D.K. Shivakumar, the main provider of financial muscle for the Congress is from Vokkaliga community. It is to stall D.K. Shivakumar’s contention for the CM chair that Siddu took the caste census in the state. The outwardly declared statement of knowing the socio-economic states of Kannada population is only a smoke screen adopted by Siddu to pre-empt his rival’s claim on CM post. The timing of caste count is perfect as the November is the month by which time Siddu will be completing two and half years of his stay in CM chair and he has to pass on the baton to Shivakumar as per the undeclared agreement brokered by the high command in post 2023 assembly election results.
Siddu, the originator of caste politics in Karnataka even before his defection to Congress from the JDS is using every possible argument to eliminate DKS from the CM race, including the unexpected, spontaneous singing of RSS song by DKS on the floor of the assembly and paint him as a suspect on secular ideology which Congress supposedly follows. At the same time the impatience of DKS in not getting his chance to be the CM of the state is exhibited in more than one way, including his opposition to the caste census in the state.
The divisive politics of Siddu is well documented. Before 2018 politics Siddu did unthinkable and never before done proposal of creating a new Lingayat religion, knowing that governments can’t create a new religion. That was intended to break the grip of BJP through the leadership of B. S. Yediyurappa of BJP on Lingayat community. This time around Siddu wish to fight DKS, hailing from another dominant community Vokkaliga, through the caste count.
A group of Congress leaders are not ready for the CM Siddu floated plan. They are ok with the idea of CM being from AHINDA group but are not ready to accept Siddu’s nominee, Satish Jarkiholi as the CM. Thus the political plan of Siddu to retain the chair for himself using AHINDA bait and create road block to the ambition of his deputy DKS, is not well received by many SC community MLAs. Congress top brass, though not spoken openly, are reportedly not happy at Siddu’s manoeuvring ways.
The assertion of Siddu on his ‘five year CM’ or rule by his proxy and the restlessness of DKS group indicates the impending “November Revolution” post Bihar elections. If Siddu is forced to step down, then a new internal struggle will emerge and add headache for the party, as any such change is likely to get scenes of dissent getting repeated in lines with Telangana, where it is already brewing and in Himachal Pradesh, the other state where Congress is in power. Either way seeds of November Revolution are ready to sow by both the groups within Congress.
