The popular saying that “a week is a long time in politics” is now playing out In Karnataka for the Congress and its Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who have seemingly emerged stronger from a crisis that had threatened to dislodge the CM recently. Siddaramaiah, whose prospects of continuing as the CM looked bleak early this month when the Opposition BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) launched a protest march from Bengaluru to Mysuru over the alleged illegal allotment of 14 Mysuru housing plots to his wife Parvathi, seemed to have ridden the storm and emerged unscathed on Friday, a day ahead of the protest march’s arrival in Mysuru. The CM had looked troubled when he recused himself from a Cabinet meeting and handed the reins to his Deputy CM D K Shivakumar on August 1 following a notice issued by Governor Thaavar Chand Gehlot over the land allotments to Siddaramaiah’s wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). But on Friday, at a Congress rally in Mysuru, he appeared his usual self. At the Congress rally in Mysuru, held to counter the Opposition demand for his resignation over the alleged MUDA scam, Siddaramaiah asserted that he was not going to “budge or bow”. With the Congress leadership deciding to back the CM on the land allotment issue and fight the matter in the courts, Siddaramaiah appears to have found his political footing again. Several of his supporters, who looked despondent last week over Siddaramaiah’s possible exit, emphasised on Friday that he was set to continue as the CM on account of the campaign against him “misfiring” and strengthening the CM instead of weakening him. “Sometimes when you attempt to weaken somebody they end up becoming stronger. There is a possibility of a misfire. In this situation, what has happened is that Siddaramaiah has emerged stronger. In politics this tends to happen when there is a misfire,” Satish Jarkiholi, a close associate of Siddaramaiah and the Congress minister for public works, said. “There is no question of him (Siddaramaiah) exiting. In this country, there are hundreds of persons with cases against them who are ministers at the Centre or in states. When there are persons who are ministers despite cases against them, the question does not arise of a resignation in Karnataka over a case,” Jarkiholi added. Siddaramaiah’s resurgence is being seen as a temporary setback for his deputy and state Congress chief Shivakumar, who has been aspiring to replace Siddaramaiah. The Deputy CM, who was a strong force in rallying support for the CM amid the crisis last week, was also said to be waiting for a slip-up by Siddaramaiah to stake his claim for the CM’s post. Several factors are seen as contributing to Siddaramaiah’s comeback despite the strong Opposition push for his exit over the alleged MUDA scam involving land allotments made to the CM’s wife in 2021, when the BJP was in power. Congress backing One of the chief factors is the Congress leadership’s backing for Siddaramaiah despite reportedly pulling up the CM in a private meeting in Delhi for allowing the allegations to emerge within a year of the Congress assuming power in Karnataka. The Congress leadership is reported to have told the CM and the Deputy CM to end the practice of “adjustment politics” with their rivals in the BJP and JD(S) and to highlight corruption and criminal cases involving Opposition leaders. At the Mysuru rally on Friday, Siddaramaiah launched a counter-attack on the Opposition leaders and cited cases against them. The Congress leadership was reported to have considered a change of the CM but refrained from doing so on account of Siddaramaiah’s stature as a backward class leader. Replacing him could backfire on the party, which draws major support from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) including the CM’s own Kuruba community, one of the largest OBC groups in the state. Congress sources said the party considered the possibility of dispatching its national president Mallikarjun Kharge as the Karnataka CM but avoided it, given Kharge’s responsibilities on the national stage ahead of several state polls. Jarkiholi factor While Shivakumar is seen as the obvious replacement for Siddaramaiah, the Deputy CM’s “domineering nature” and inability to rally the support of a large section of the Congress ministers and MLAs is seen as something that has resulted in the strengthening of Siddaramaiah despite the recent crisis. With Shivakumar being projected by some Opposition leaders – like his rival and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy – as being tacitly behind the allegations of corruption against Siddaramiah, the former was forced to work harder to prove such charges wrong. There has been speculation in Karnataka over the last week that the possibility of Shivakumar gaining from the Opposition campaign against Siddaramaiah resulted in many of Shivakumar's old foes – like the Jarkiholi brothers and Kumaraswamy – joining forces quietly. As Siddaramaiah was surrounded by the allegations of corruption, there were reports to suggest that Satish Jarkiholi met Kumaraswamy in Delhi. “There are reports that there was such a meeting but it has not been confirmed. There is speculation that the Congress high command is wary of upsetting the apple cart in Karnataka with a change of leadership at this time,” government sources said. The exit of 17 MLAs from the Congress and JD(S) to the BJP in 2019 had resulted in the fall of the then coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy. One of the Congress leaders at the forefront of that rebellion was Satish Jarkiholi’s brother Ramesh, who is now a BJP MLA. Amid speculations over Siddaramaiah’s exit last week, the Jarkiholi brothers met him in Belagavi. Apart from Satish, a Congress MLA, the meeting also included the BJP’s Ramesh and Balachandra Jarkiholi. Satish, however, described the meeting of the Jarkiholi brothers with Siddaramaiah as flood-related. “There was a meeting with other Jarkiholi brothers (Ramesh of Gokak and Balachandra of Arabhavi) because there are issues of flood damage in their constituencies. It is the duty of all legislators to meet the CM and show respect when he comes to our region,” he said. He also rejected suggestions that Shivakumar was behind the allegations against the CM. “We do not accept in the Congress that (Shivakumar) is behind the MUDA allegations,” he said. “There is no question of a change of CM. We will fight this legally and we are with him.” Satish, who did not participate in a series of meetings organised by Shivakumar to show solidarity with Siddaramaiah, was present on Friday at the Mysuru rally where the Congress crisis seemed to have abated. “The Opposition BJP and JD(S) must encourage a good government. Through your protests you have indirectly strengthened Siddaramaiah and the government,” Jarkiholi said Friday. In a sign that politics in the Congress circles has returned to normal, state cooperation minister K N Rajanna, a close Siddaramaiah-Satish associate known for taking potshots against Shivakumar, suggested that Satish is a prospective CM candidate for the future. “Any suggestion of Satish Jarkiholi being upset with Siddaramaiah or the Congress is purely speculation. Satish Jarkiholi is also a leader of our (Nayak-Valmiki Scheduled Tribe) community. He has done a lot of work for the community. It will not be a surprise if he holds the reins of the state administration in the future,” Rajanna said.
