BENGALURU: The coterie of ministers around Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is trying to prove that he is the numero uno both in the party and government, and wishes that he breaks the record of former chief minister late D Devaraj Urs of being the longest serving chief minister of Karnataka.
There is speculation over an alleged agreement where Siddaramaiah is expected to give up his post after completing the half of his term of two-and-a-half years in favour of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. In an interview to a private TV channel recently, Siddaramaiah had said that he wants to break the record of Urs, indicating his ambition to continue in the post as he seems to have a strong backing of majority of legislators in the party, Congress sources said.
Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna openly stated recently that since Urs had the backing of legislators, he could overcome the likes of even Indira Gandhi, who eventually agreed to make him CM. “Urs was not even a member of the House when he became CM, but had the strong support of legislators which then AICC observer Umashankar Dixit noticed and reported to Indira Gandhi.
I don’t think the high command ignores the opinion of legislators while electing CM,” Rajanna remarked. He also said there is no doubt that Siddaramaiah will break the record of Urs. “What BS Yediyurappa is to BJP, HD Deve Gowda to JDS, Siddaramaiah is to Congress,” he added.
Urs served as CM for seven years and 238 days and Siddaramaiah will reach that benchmark in January 2026.
Even after he surpasses that mark, chances of him continuing in the post or anointing a leader of his choice from the AHINDA community to succeed him cannot be ruled out, a senior legislator told TNIE.
“The high command, especially Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, is likely to ask any leader, including Shivakumar, to win the confidence of legislators if they want to replace Siddaramaiah. Shivakumar is likely to make use of the ‘grace’ period till January 2026 to accomplish that mission,” he informed.
The decisions of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, who is Rahul’s Man Friday, will also have a bearing on the decision. They know the strength of both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar and others within the party, another Congress leader said.