Shift Siddaramaiah to national politics, Congress veterans urge Sonia

With former chief minister Siddaramaiah making no secret of his chief ministerial ambitions for 2023, Congress veterans in Karnataka have swung into action, urging party president Sonia Gandhi to shift him to national politics.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad, KPCC president D K Shivakumar, senior leader G Parameshwara and a host of ‘original’ Congress leaders have been meeting party leaders in the national capital for the last one month, suggesting that the Kuruba leader be shifted to national politics.

These leaders argued that Siddaramaiah’s activities were undermining Shivakumar’s authority in the state and it would be better if the former CM was accommodated in the AICC.

They conveyed to the central leadership that Siddaramaiah’s personal enmity with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and his family did not augur well for the party in the state, sources in Congress told DH.

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They also did not rule out Siddaramaiah’s role in the exit of his loyalists from the Congress to join the BJP, which led to the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2019.

Siddaramaiah’s chief ministerial ambitions have divided the state Congress vertically into two groups – ‘migrants’ from the Janata Parivar and ‘original’ Congress leaders, with the latter rallying behind Shivakumar, said a Congress leader.

The ‘original’ Congress leaders claim they feel ignored with Siddaramaiah at the helm and accuse the former CM of promoting his loyalists in the party.

“The differences between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have led to delays in the appointment of new district office bearers for the party,” a Congress leader said.

In July, party leader Rahul Gandhi had to step in when Siddaramaiah supporters started demanding that their leader be projected as the Chief ministerial candidate for the 2023 Assembly polls.

Gandhi brokered peace between the warring factions, making it clear that the next CM will be chosen by the legislature party after the elections.

Siddaramaiah has made no secret of his ambition to become the CM again.

“If people’s blessings are there, there is nothing wrong in becoming the CM,” has been the refrain of Siddaramaiah, who is the leader of the Congress legislature party.

Siddaramaiah has already declared that he will contest from the Badami Assembly segment, which he currently represents, conveniently forgetting his announcement that the 2018 Assembly election would be his last.

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