Elections are still some time away, but the jostling for who would be chief minister should the Congress win in Karnataka is now happening in public. State Congress chief D K Shivakumar's open expression of desire to be one, at a press event in Mysuru this week, has resulted in other leaders of the party listing their own credentials to counter his. M B Patil, the chairman of the Congress campaign committee for the 2023 polls, whose appointment was seen as an effort to curb Shivakumar, was the first to do so. Patil is also a close aide of former CM and Shivakumar's main rival, Siddaramaiah, and a prominent Lingayat leader. “We will come directly into the reckoning. We are also capable. No one is a favourite and anyone can be CM, it could be a Vokkaliga, a Lingayat, a Dalit, a minority leader,'' said Patil on Friday. Shivakumar had requested the Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka to support the Congress in order for him to be CM. Suggesting that the Congress will consider all leaders if voted to power, Patil added: “We are not second-class citizens.We have to come to power on our own strength, and then, on the basis of the opinion of the elected legislators, the high command will take a decision and that is final. We may all wish to be CM, but it will not happen according to our wishes.” In the past, Patil, a wealthy educationist from the Bijapur region, has expressed his desire to be considered for the post of CM by the Congress. In 2019, he said: “After Siddaramaiah, I want to be CM. I have hope, but I am not greedy.” As a Lingayat, Patil fills a crucial gap in the Karnataka Congress leadership ranks, one of the reasons for his selection as campaign chief. The former home and water resources minister was also at the forefront of the campaign under the Congress government in 2013-18 for recognition of the Lingayat faith as minority religion. The movement was seen as a vehicle created by Congress leaders to propel Patil into a leadership role, as an alternative to the BJP's veteran Lingayat leader, B S Yediyurappa. The largest community in the state, Lingayats can determine the fortunes of candidates in as many as 90 of 224 seats in the Assembly. Shivakumar’s statements were next countered by Muslim leader and former minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, another of Siddaramaiah’s close associates. “You cannot become the CM with the support of just one community. You need the support of all communities. Our community is larger than the Vokkaliga community and I desire to be CM, but will I become CM with the support of Muslims alone? We have to take all the communities into confidence,'' Khan said. Asked about Khan's remarks, Shivakumar said: “I do not want to respond to any Zameer. There are hundreds of people like him. Everyone should fall in line with the Congress line. We want support from all the communities. Everyone should shut up and do their jobs.” The chatter over the CM post has arisen in the Congress ranks following the grand plans by former CM Siddaramaiah's supporters for his 75th birthday on August 3, seen as an indirect effort to project him as the Congress's tallest leader. Patil denied this, saying: “The 75th birthday celebration of Siddaramaiah is not the worship of an individual. It is a day where the service and contributions of Siddaramaiah will be commemorated. Even Rahul Gandhi will attend.” The ruling BJP in Karnataka is, meanwhile, bemused at the happenings in the Congress. “A few Congress leaders are going around saying, 'I will be CM, I will be CM'. People are observing all this. Nothing like that will take place. The BJP will win a majority and it will be a BJP CM,'' Yediyurappa said.
