Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and their love-hate relationship

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar desired for the top post in Karnataka

Karnataka is set to have Siddaramaiah as the new Chief Minister and D K Shivakumar as the Deputy CM. The Congress party took the decision after days of deliberations and hectic meetings between the top brass and the two leaders.

Although neither of the two stalwarts made any negative comment against each other during the entire Karnataka political circus, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar desired the top post in the state. The duo was present at multiple meetings separately with the high command in Delhi trying to secure their position as the state's head.

However, it is Siddaramaiah who finally got the CM seat, with DKS as his only deputy. Soon after the big announcement, both the leaders shared a picture of them together with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, asserting that the party stands united and there is no rift between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.

Also read: Why Siddaramaiah and not Shivakumar?

But, before the CM announcement, when both the heavyweights were exploiting their resources to grab the top seat, Siddaramaiah had confirmed that there were some differences between him and DKS. "My relationship with DK Shivakumar is cordial. There are no differences between us. Of course, differences exist in democracy but it is not detrimental to the interests of the party," he had said.

Shivakumar too did not express any disregard for Siddaramaiah directly but had indicated that it was under him that the party won the Assembly polls. "I don't have the strength to speak about other's numbers. My strength is 135 and I'm the party president. It is under my presidency that the party has won 135 seats," Shivakumar had told reporters amid claims that Siddaramaiah enjoyed the backing of many MLAs.

Nonetheless, during the Karnataka election campaigning, the two veteran leaders were seen, keeping their differences aside, working unitedly to ensure the party's victory.

Considering the intense battle for the Karnataka CM post, it was also thought that a political slugfest was in the making for Karnataka Congress, like what is being witnessed in Rajasthan between Sachin Pilot and CM Ashok Gehlot.

However, the latest Twitter post by the duo has sent out a strong message negating the speculations of a serious fight between them.

In fact, the love-hate relationship between the two Congress loyalists is not new.

Things had gone sour between the two after Shivakumar in 2018 had publicly apologised for Siddaramaiah government's decision to grant minority status to the Lingayat community. He had then called it a "big mistake".

The duo had again made headlines in May 2021 when the Karnataka Congress official Twitter handle made a tweet saying that the Covid-19 pandemic would have been under control if Shivakumar was the CM. Although the tweet was later deleted, this had irked the Siddaramaiah camp.

Similar incident happened in June 2021 when some of the state leaders projected Siddaramaiah as the CM face, causing a rift between him and DKS. The party high command had then issued a warning to the state leaders.

More recently, the difference between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah came to the limelight after the former had asked his supporters not to speak on the hijab issue in the state, while Siddaramaiah had openly supported the Muslim girls.

(With inputs from DHNS)