BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to be consolidating his position within the party by strengthening his Kerala connections. As part of the plan, he has been taking part in events concerning Kerala’s spiritual leader Sri Narayana Guru. The latest was the 93rd Sivagiri pilgrimage convention held at Sivagiri Mutt, Varkala, on Wednesday, organised by the Sri Narayana Dharma Sanghom Trust where he delivered a descriptive speech.
The venue is significant as it is the home turf of AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, who is the Alappuzha Lok Sabha member and is considered Man Friday of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Siddaramaiah had recently stated that he will go by the decision of Rahul Gandhi on change in leadership in the state.
On December 3, Siddaramaiah took part in the centenary celebration of Narayana Guru-Mahatma Gandhi conversation held in Mangaluru. He was reportedly guided, on both occasions, by Venugopal and MLC BK Hariprasad, the permanent invitee to Congress Working Committee, as they want to project Siddararamaiah as the face of backward classes of the party in the Kerala Assembly polls, likely in April-May, 2026, sources said.
The plan is to wean away certain communities from BJP and also CPI(M) and experiment with the Karnataka model of polarising the AHINDA voters, the Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits.
In fact, Siddaramaiah had campaigned, though for a couple of days, for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when she contested the Lok Sabha by-election from Wayanad in October 2024, which she won.
“He will be roped in for more events in Kerala ahead of the polls, as he embraces the ideals of Narayana Guru, who is followed by nearly 30% of Kerala’s population, irrespective of caste and creed,” AICC General Secretary, Kerala in-charge, PV Mohan told TNIE.
During the event, Siddaramaiah claimed that Karnataka is advancing Narayana Guru’s ideals and highlighted that Narayana Guru Jayanti was announced in 2016. He also stressed that Narayana Guru’s writings are being translated into Kannada, and that a chair to study the spiritual guru has been set up at Mangaluru University with a grant of Rs 1 crore in 2013 and an additional allocation of Rs 2 crore in 2023.
When Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan attacked the Congress government on the demolition of illegal sheds at Kogilu in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah countered by chalking out a plan to provide alternative housing to the evictees.