BENGALURU/BELAGAVI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues, mostly Dalit ministers, had dinner at PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s residence on Thursday. Nothing remarkable, except that the get-together happened at a time when Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is on a personal trip to Turkey.
It is being interpreted as camp politics, and attempts at political one-upmanship to counter Shivakumar, who appears to have outfoxed the Siddaramaiah camp, especially Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara and Belagavi district minister Satish Jarkiholi. The issue in point is BJP MLC CT Ravi’s alleged derogatory remarks on Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, when he sent out a message that he is the CM-in-waiting.
The Siddaramaiah camp learnt of Ravi’s arrest and turn of events quite late, according to sources. Opposition parties, including LoP R Ashoka noticed it, and commented that Siddaramaiah was growing weak before Shivakumar.
As a strategy to counter Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah’s Man Friday Satish arranged dinner to make a point that their camp could not be ignored, say political pundits. Earlier, none of the dinners hosted by AHINDA leaders, including Parameshwara, had not featured Shivakumar, they added.
“The CM @siddaramaiah faction, which was waiting for the DCM @DKShivakumar to go on a foreign trip, held a dinner meeting in a show of strength. DK Shivakumar, it is time to implement what you bragged about in the House, saying that you will grab the power. A cabinet meeting is held in his absence.
An impression like increasing bus fare by 15% is taken. What does it mean that such decisions are taken in the absence of DCM and the party’s state president? Is it that he is not a player in the Congress party or is his bravado only in front of the media? If he continues like this, it is guaranteed that his dream (to become CM) will remain a dream,” posted R Ashoka on ‘X’.
According to sources, the Siddaramaiah camp discussed a change in the KPCC president’s post and cabinet reshuffle after the high command takes a call. Although Jarkiholi agreed that several political issues were discussed during the meeting, he said nothing about a change of guard or possible cabinet reshuffle or appointment of DCMs. He said party leaders gave suggestions on how to bolster the party for the next assembly elections.
On replacing Shivakumar as KPCC president, Jarkiholi said it is up to the high command to take a call, but there was nothing wrong in one leader holding two key positions. He did not clarify whether he was an aspirant for the top party post.
Former CM and Belagavi MP Jagadish Shettar said the dinner meeting had exposed infighting in the Congress. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy said that Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were on good terms.