BENGALURU: With Doddalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar set to take over as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka, Congress ushered in a generational shift within the party and state politics.
The 64-year-old Vokkaliga strongman had long nurtured the ambition of becoming chief minister. Finally, what worked for him was his unflinching loyalty to the party high command and the power-sharing agreement purportedly reached between him and Siddaramaiah in May 2023 when Congress formed its government in the state.
The Congress’ “trouble-shooter”, known for tenacity in accepting challenges and fighting them without giving up, will get a two-year tenure as CM. His experience as deputy chief minister in the Siddaramaiah government, the full backing of the party high command and Congress enjoying an absolute majority of 134 MLAs in the 224-member Assembly, are to the credit of Shivakumar, who is in his eighth term as MLA.
While support from outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be crucial, the incoming CM faces a Herculean task of ensuring that the party and the state government work as one cohesive unit, without multiple power centres in the government or factions within the party.
As KPCC president, he was credited with turning around the party’s fortunes and bringing in much-needed confidence among its cadre when their morale was at its lowest after successive defeats in elections. Shivakumar, who was first elected as MLA in 1989 when he was 27 years old and as a minister in his early 30s, was often known for his assertive style of functioning. However, in the last few months, it looked as though he had been working hard on shedding his aggressive image and projecting himself as an intellectual politician, even penning a book on irrigation projects in India.
A combination of dynamism and experience is what comes in handy when he takes up the new role even as Congress’ central leadership is going in for a complete reboot of the government and the party, aiming to retain power after the 2028 Assembly polls. While the party’s new state unit chief will be tasked to galvanise the cadre, the task of bringing the party back to power also rests on Shivakumar as the new CM and his team.
The elections to five corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and polls to local bodies would be the first major test for Shivakumar, who, as Bengaluru development minister, had started implementing several big-ticket projects in the state capital. Some of those projects – especially the Tunnel Road – are facing criticism and stiff opposition for a lack of adequate due diligence. Also, as water resources minister, he has been pushing hard for the implementation of the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir project near Kanakapura and other projects.
The new team also faces the big task of addressing anti-incumbency against the government, bringing in much-needed vigour to the administration that has taken a hit due to speculations over the leadership tussle, and also setting a strong narrative that the Congress government is not just about guarantees, but is also development-oriented.
The Vokkaliga leader, who effortlessly reels out Sanskrit shlokas, is also accused of flaunting “soft-Hindutva”. A section of party leaders is of the view that Shivakumar’s leadership will help the party win over the support of the dominant Vokkaliga community in the Old Mysuru region, and that the “soft-Hindutva” image could help blunt the opposition’s allegations of Congress’ perceived “minority appeasement”. However, the party cannot afford to take the minority community for granted, especially after the Davanagere bypoll. A fine balancing is what the new CM and his team would be looking at.
Tackling crises, and often turning them into opportunities, is not new to Shivakumar, who faced the worst crisis in his political life after Income Tax Department raids in 2017 and subsequent Enforcement Directorate cases. Although he came under the scanner of central investigating agencies, politically, he emerged like a phoenix, even mustering the support of the party’s top leadership and voters.