BENGALURU: The Congress high command seems to have finally woken up to resolve the tricky leadership ‘crisis’ lingering on in Karnataka, with AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge on Thursday saying that both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar would be summoned to Delhi for talks to settle the issue.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar – who are both eager to meet the high command and stake claim to the CM’s post – have kept their fingers crossed on the outcome.
This is especially so because while AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalit communities) and Karnataka State Federation of Backward Class Communities have warned the Congress of adverse implications if Siddaramaiah was forced to make way for Shivakumar, the Karnataka Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha has vouched to fight vehemently if injustice is meted out to the Deputy Chief Minister, who is a powerful Vokkaliga leader aspiring to become Karnataka CM.
Besides, prominent Vokkaliga seer Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji, pontiff of Adichunchanagiri Mutt, and other Vokkaliga seers support Shivakumar.
Kharge told reporters before leaving for Delhi on Thursday, “I will call three-four key leaders and discuss the way forward, and put an end to the confusion.” He said Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will be called for discussions across the table with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. He said the high command, working as a team, will reach a decision after discussions.
Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar said they will go to Delhi if the high command summons them. “If the high command asks me and the CM, we will talk to each other and go to Delhi,” Shivakumar said, although he clarified that they were yet to get a call from Delhi.
Sources privy to the developments said Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal met in Delhi on Thursday evening, and Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar would soon be summoned for talks, tentatively on November 29 or December 1. It is to be seen whether senior leader Sonia Gandhi – who is abroad – will be part of the crucial meeting.
Will also accept appointment of Shivakumar as CM, says Parameshwara
Shivakumar has been subtly indicating that Siddaramaiah and the party high command must keep their word on power sharing, claiming that when the party came to power in 2023, a pact was struck on the latter transferring power to him after two-and-a-half years, half-way into the term. “It happened among 5-6 people, the details of which I don’t want to disclose,” he had stated.
Sensing that the party high command was taking up the issue for resolution, the Siddaramaiah camp huddled to chalk out a strategy to counter Shivakumar’s elevation as Chief Minister.
Sources said Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, Social Welfare Minister Dr HC Mahadevappa and former minister KN Rajanna met Siddaramaiah and decided to convey to the high command that the Congress party would lose the support of AHINDA communities, a decisive factor in the majority of 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka. They also decided to convey the impossibility of retaining power in the 2028 assembly polls if Siddaramaiah was removed from the CM’s post.
An alternative strategy is to play a ‘Dalit CM card’, and pitch Parameshwara for the CM’s post. Since he led the party to power as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president in 2013, Parameshwara deserves the Chief Minister’s post ahead of Shivakumar, said Rajanna. Parameshwara himself said that as he had put in 40 years of service for the party at various levels, his wish to be the next CM could be considered by the high command “who know me very well”.
However, a short while before meeting Siddaramaiah on Thursday, he said he would also accept the appointment of Shivakumar as Chief Minister. But he indirectly sent out a message that if central leaders considered him (Parameshwara) for the CM’s post as a consensus candidate, Shivakumar should also accept it.
“If the high command takes a decision to make Kharge Chief Minister, it’s welcome. But I don’t think it will take such a decision,” he said.
However, a close aide of Siddaramaiah, Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, told reporters that Siddarmaiah will continue as CM for a full five-year term.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah’s Kuruba community seers have said it was not for religious heads like them to decide on the CM, but for the legislators. Rajanna advised Vokkaliga seers, too, to not meddle in politics.