BENGALURU: With Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar becoming assertive to stake claim for the chief minister’s post after incumbent Siddaramaiah completes two-and-a-half years of his tenure in October, the opposition BJP has turned his sympathiser.
Shivakumar, who believes in astrology, feels that his stars are on the ascendant and has become aggressive to acquire the post, a source said. The billion-dollar question is whether he will go by his stars or the party high command’s diktat.
But the saffron party and its leaders, including Leader of Opposition in Assembly R Ashoka, are fuelling Shivakumar’s ambition and wish to see him play an Eknath Shinde in Karnataka by splitting Congress and becoming chief minister with its support. Shinde split Shiv Sena in Maharashtra to become chief minister and now in the second term of BJP-Sena coalition government, he is the deputy chief minister.
Shivakumar recently called on AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, who was part of the pact that Siddaramaiah should step down after two-and-a-half years, and reminded him about the agreement. Shivakumar is also said to have assured Venugopal, a sympathiser of Siddaramaiah, that he will bring the party back to power in 2028, sources said.
What has troubled certain Congress leaders, especially those in the Siddaramaiah camp, was Isha Foundation’s Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev facilitating Shivakumar to share the dais with Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Mahashivaratri event. Venugopal’s supporter and AICC secretary PV Mohan vehemently criticised Shivakumar for attending the programme hosted by Sadhguru, who had mocked Rahul in the past.
BJP is apparently trying to fish in Congress’ troubled waters. It expects Shivakumar to split Congress if he is not given the chief minister’s post and to form the government with its support. Speculation of Shivakumar doing a Shinde is not new and has been there since Siddaramaiah became chief minister in 2023, a CM supporter said.
Shivakumar cannot take away two-thirds of 138 Congress MLAs, required to avoid the anti-defection law. If he makes such a move, Siddaramaiah’s supporter and PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi will play his own game through his brother Ramesh Jarkiholi, who is with BJP, and may strike a deal to checkmate Shivakumar, he added.
But political analysts said 62-year-old Shivakumar, who claims to have another decade of political future, is unlikely to take drastic decisions. His loyalty to Sonia Gandhi and family is one of the factors why Shivakumar is unlikely to switch to BJP, they said.
“Shivakumar lobbied hard for the CM post when the party came to power in 2023. He will certainly become CM in November. In the worst case, he could wait till January 2026 to let Siddaramaiah break the record of former chief minister late D Devaraj Urs of being the longest-serving CM with seven years and 238 days,” a staunch supporter of Shivakumar said.
“As in the case of Punjab, where Capt Amarinder Singh was replaced with Charanjit Singh Channi following the high command’s decision, the party top leadership will ensure that legislators support Shivakumar for CM,” he added.
But the decision proved counterproductive with Congress getting routed in the assembly polls, another leader pointed out.