Siddaramaiah vs Shivakumar: Suspense over new Karnataka CM continues despite hectic meetings

Karnataka will have to wait for at least one more day to know who will lead the state as Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar continued to wrangle for the Chief Minister’s post on Monday even as hectic meetings failed to break the impasse.

There was high drama throughout the day as Siddaramaiah flew to the capital in the afternoon while Shivakumar cancelled his planned trip, sending signals to the central leadership that he was not a push-over. But late in the evening, he decided to fly to Delhi on Tuesday.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held a series of consultations in the capital throughout the day, capping it with a meeting with three senior observers sent to Karnataka to meet MLAs and Congress General Secretaries KC Venugopal (Organisation and Randeep Surjewala (Karnataka incharge).

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The observers, who met all the MLAs and elicited their views on who would be their choice as Chief Minister or whether they would prefer referring the decision to the High Command, submitted their detailed report to Kharge.

“Observers have just submitted their report. Congress president will consult leaders and then take a decision. Let’s wait for tomorrow,” Surjewala said, adding that only Kharge and observers knew the mind of MLAs and the reports about the number of MLAs supporting the leaders were 'just rumours'.

Senior Karnataka Congress leader HK Patil said the name will be decided by Tuesday evening. Sources said the leadership was ready to announce the name on Monday evening but with Shivakumar deciding to stay put in Bengaluru, it was decided that announcement could come only on Tuesday.

The date for swearing-in will be decided after looking into the availability of the Governor, though the party is ready to have it on Thursday itself.

Shivakumar, who is also Karnataka Congress president who celebrated his 61st birthday on Monday, stirred the hornet nest by cancelling his plans to fly to Delhi and meet Kharge, citing health reasons while insisting that 135 MLAs won under his presidency. However, sources said, a message was conveyed to Shivakumar about the need for him to be present in the capital for consultations.

"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 told reporters amid claims that Siddaramaiah enjoys the backing of many MLAs. I am a single person. I don't have a number. I don't believe in worshipping an individual. I worship the party," Shivakumar said. He said he has a stomach infection and a doctor would be visiting him soon.

On his part, Kharge also did not meet Siddaramaiah who reached the capital in the evening along with his son Yathindra and close confidantes like K J George, Zameer Ahmed Khan, Bhyrathi Suresh and MB Patil.

“I don’t know…Don’t ask me any question till I meet the High Command,” Siddaramaiah told reporters. However, late in the evening, Shivakumar’s brother and Congress MP DK Suresh met Kharge and said that it was a courtesy meet as he does whenever he is in Delhi.

The Congress president did not want to send a wrong signal, sources said, as they explained why a meeting with Siddaramaiah did not take place.

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are trying to convince the leadership of their respective capabilities. Both are telling the leadership only they could help the party perform better in the Lok Sabha elections.

Siddaramaiah has projected himself as the vote catcher for the party as he can swing Muslim and backward caste voters to the party in the 2024 polls while Shivakumar is promising as many Lok Sabha MPs as possible from the state as well as help the organisation in bagging seats in other states too.

However, Siddaramaiah camp contends that the Congress won on anti-corruption plank and with ED cases, Shivakumar could be a liability, a charge denied by the latter. Siddaramaiah also hopes that being a backward caste, he would fit in the scheme of things at a time the Congress is looking at social justice plank in the Lok Sabha elections.

Shivakumar supporters, on the other hand, believe that the leadership cannot ignore his claims as he has sacrificed several times for the party and being an organisational man, he could perform.

They also do not subscribe to the ‘pan Karnataka’ card played by Siddaramaiah citing that Shivakumar’s influence is limited to Old Mysuru region. Shivakumar is also not keen at sharing the Chief Ministership, as he feels that the Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh experiment were not successful for one of the sides.