DK Shivakumar vs Siddaramaiah power tussle out in open in Karnataka, Congress brass steps in

His decision to meet the MLAs and MLCs was immediately seen by various sections of the leadership as an attempt by the party high command to gauge the mind of the MLAs on a possible reshuffle of the Siddaramaiah cabinet and or even a leadership change.

Sources in the Congress high command, however, ruled out a change of guard, scotching feverish speculation that Siddaramaiah would make way for Shivakumar as Chief Minister later this year. Those in the Shivakumar camp had, for some time, been talking about the possibility of a two-and-a-half year term-sharing formula between the two.

The Siddaramaiah camp, which has denied the existence of any such pact, has instead flagged the issue of Shivakumar continuing to hold two posts. Siddaramaiah took over as Chief Minister in May 2023. Sources in the party high command also indicated that a change of leadership too was not under discussion now.

Sources in the Siddaramaiah camp appeared confident of him continuing as the Chief Minister for five years. “He is the only backward class Chief Minister that the Congress has. The high command recently set up an OBC Advisory Council comprising some two dozen top backward class leaders of the party. And the first meeting of the council will be held in Bengaluru on July 15. Siddaramaiah will host a dinner for them after the meeting. How can the high command remove a backward class leader of the stature of Siddaramaiah? All such stories are mere speculation,” said a leader close to the Chief Minister.

Sources in the Congress high command said Surjewala’s visit was aimed at quelling the disillusionment that is setting in among a section of the leadership. “One or two of the MLAs openly expressed their disappointment with fund allocation. Besides, there are various statements being made with regard to change of leadership both in the party and in the government. We thought of calling those to Delhi to ask them to refrain from making such statements in public. But we thought it would be better for the general secretary in-charge to go there and meet leaders at all levels to understand their concerns and tell them not to go public with organisational and governance matters,” a party central leader said.

But an “open-ended” statement made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has given mixed signals. Responding to questions about claims made by some Congress leaders in the state about a change of guard in October, Kharge said Monday “See, that is in the hands of the high command. Nobody can say here what is going on in the high command. This is left to the high command, and the high command has got power to take further action. But unnecessarily, one should not create a problem.”

“Surjewala has come. Based on his report and what feedback he gathers, we will decide what steps to take,” Kharge said when asked about Surjewala’s mission.

“Khargeji’s statement is open to interpretation. He said change of leadership is in the hands of the high command. It is being interpreted differently by the two camps,” one Karnataka leader said.

Surjewala’s visit comes at a time when speculation over changes has resurfaced following Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna’s remarks hinting at “revolutionary” political developments after September. Rajanna, who is close to Siddaramaiah, had also indicated that Public Works Department minister Satish Jarkiholi will be the next state Congress chief replacing Shivakumar. There is also talk in party circles of a possible cabinet reshuffle.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, meanwhile, played down the importance of Surjewala’s visit. “He is the AICC general secretary in-charge. He will seek the opinion of MLAs, hear their concerns, and assess what needs to be done to strengthen the organisation. He will do his job.” Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said Surjewala regularly visits Karnataka to review party matters, not just government affairs.

“He will also review political aspects, party programmes, and if there are disturbances within the party or government, he will guide us as the general secretary in-charge,” he said.

Surjewala, meanwhile, said the meetings were only a regular organisational exercise and added that news that is circulated in the media about leadership change is only a “figment of imagination”.

He said he is meeting all Congress legislators individually to understand the status of the five guarantee schemes in their respective Assembly constituencies as the government has completed two years in office.

“We want to know from our MLAs, the status of Congress guarantees in their constituencies, any improvements that need to be done, what further transparency and accountability that can be brought,” he said. Efforts are also on to understand from the legislators the status of the Congress organisation in their respective Assembly segments, he said.

Pointing out that the party is trying to understand how much work has been done by each legislator in their respective constituencies in terms of development and what further development works are pending, Surjewala said, “If necessary, we will tell our ministers and the Chief Minister as to what work needs to be done.”

“We also want to understand from MLAs what should be the course of the government and what further things that the government can do which are people-friendly,” he said.