Powerful Vokkaliga seers want D K Shivakumar as CM

The Congress could find it tricky to deal with the CM race between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah due to pressure from the Vokkaliga and Kuruba communities

Influential Vokkaliga pontiffs Nirmalanandanatha Swami and Nanjavadhoota Swami urged the Congress on Sunday to name D K Shivakumar as the chief minister.

The two pontiffs were addressing a gathering of the Vokkaligara Sangha here. Their pro-Shivakumar stand came just before a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting where lawmakers are expected to choose the new chief minister.

Parallelly, there was a meeting of the Kurubara Sangha whose office-bearers discussed backing Siddaramaiah, the biggest mass leader of the Congress, for the CM’s post.

The Congress could find it tricky to deal with the chief ministerial race between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah due to pressure from the Vokkaliga and Kuruba communities.

“D K Shivakumar ticks all boxes,” Nirmalanandanatha Swami said. “Everyone knows about his struggles. When he cried before the media, there were tears of joy and pain,” he said, identifying Shivakumar as “the son of our community”.

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Nanjavadhoota Swami praised Shivakumar for attempting to consolidate all communities. “I urge the Congress leadership to announce D K Shivakumar as CM so that he gets an opportunity,” he said.

Both pontiffs pointed out that the Vokkaliga community had backed JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy when he occupied the top post. The Vokkaligas are seen as a politically-dominant community accounting for an estimated 12-14 per cent of the state’s population. Kurubas, believed to be the largest OBC caste, forms about 10 per cent of the population.

Shivakumar has not missed any chance in wooing the community. On several occasions, in the run-up to the Assembly election, Shivakumar urged Vokkaligas to back him and his chief ministerial ambition. The last time a Vokkaliga became the CM in Congress was SM Krishna in 1999, a fact Shivakumar has repeatedly stressed.

Eyeing a second term as the CM, Siddaramaiah enjoys the confidence of several lawmakers. Having headed the government between 2013-17, Siddaramaiah became the first CM in 40 years to complete the full five-year term.