Camp politics is back to the fore in Karnataka, if dinner parties are to be seen as power shows. Senior Scheduled Tribe leader and public works minister Satish Jarkiholi hosted a dinner for his cabinet colleagues last Thursday, which became a conclave of predominantly Dalit ministers. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a prominent Ahinda (Kannada acronym for backward castes, minorities and Dalits) leader, was in attendance. What set off murmurs was the timing of the dinner, with state Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar away in Türkiye on a private jaunt. Home Minister G Parameshwara was also planning to host a dinner for SC, ST legislators to raise issues like an internal quota for the Scheduled Castes and to rouse the communities by planning a big rally. It could be a muscle-flexing exercise of sorts to restrict Shivakumar, though all Congress leaders have denied any infighting. On his return, Shivakumar too claimed that such get-togethers were being unnecessarily politicised.
Yet, a power joust seems to be on the cards, with calls for a new state Congress president—Shivakumar has headed the KPCC for over four years—and for more deputy CMs to uphold the party’s ‘one man, one post’ policy. Shivakumar holds multiple portfolios—apart from being the deputy CM, he heads Bengaluru development and the water resources ministry. If he is banking on the Mysore Urban Development Authority scam to keep Siddaramaiah in check, he has other challengers. Jarkiholi has made his ambitions clear to be a frontrunner for the KPCC president’s post now and the chief minister’s post in 2028. Parameshwara, a Dalit leader, has been dropping hints it’s time Karnataka had a Dalit CM and that he is ready for a promotion.
Political dinners often invite speculation. This one has given the opposition an opportunity to mock Shivakumar that he is losing clout in the party and to instigate him to wrest power. BJP leader R Ashoka even predicted that such rivalries would bring down the government, which has not yet reached the half-time of its tenure. The Karnataka Congress has a number of strong leaders from across the caste spectrum with their own brands of mass appeal and regional dominance. While a power struggle may not actually shake up the party leadership, it could derail governance in the interim.