BENGALURU: With all eyes focussed on D K Shivakumar after the I-T search and seizures being conducted on his residences and various businesses, the question on the minds of many is how he will emerge out of the troubles.
With his penchant for hogging limelight, Shivakumar is one of the most prominent and ruthless Congressmen in the state. He made his mark in politics early by contesting against another strong Vokkaliga, H D Deve Gowda of JD(S) in 1985, but lost. But he recouped that loss in 1989 by winning from Sathanur and thus began building not only a strong Vokkaliga base to challenge the JD(S), but from the same base as Ramanagara, Kanakapura and Bengaluru Rural, considered the turf of the Deve Gowda family.
Though he first became a minister during S Bangarappa’s tenure as Chief Minister, Shivakumar began to make his presence felt during the tenure of S M Krishna, where he was Minister for Urban Development and implemented several infrastructure projects.
In 2004, Shivakumar thumbed his nose at his rival Deve Gowda by fielding a rookie, Tejaswini Gowda, against him from the Kanakapura Lok Sabha constituency and made sure she won. Again, in the 2013 Lok Sabha bypoll, he ensured his brother D K Suresh’s victory over H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita.
He has also been known for his wide business interests. In the 2013 Assembly elections, the increase in his total assets was the highest for a candidate in Karnataka. To put it in perspective, in 2008, he had declared assets worth `75.5 crore and in 2013, it jumped to a whopping `251 crore.
In the latest episode, which seems to have triggered the raids, Shivakumar agreed to shepherd the Gujarat Congress MLAs and foil the efforts of BJP to have them cross over, when others like K J George refused to take the responsibility. It is this ability to strategise and his ambition that makes his own partymen uncomfortable and stops him from gaining a larger support base within the party.
‘We will face the challenge’
In a statement to the media later in the evening, D K Suresh said, “This raid just before the Gujarat Rajya Sabha poll is a political conspiracy. BJP has stooped very low by targeting D K Shivakumar for his initiative to shelter the Gujarat MLAs in Bengaluru. We will face this challenge and thwart BJP’s plot.” Suresh also said that the raid hadn’t affected the morale of the Gujarat MLAs at Eagleton Resort, and they would remain united and ensure victory of Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha poll.