Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 30: Amid talks of a change in leadership in Karnataka, the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday did not categorically deny the rumours but passed the buck to the party’s high command.
Visit to Bengaluru by the Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala has fuelled talks of the deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar replacing Siddaramaiah as the chief minister as part of the “rotational change” at the top claimed to have been worked out at the time of the formation of the Congress ministry two and half years back.
Amidst the open talks among the Congress leaders of an impending leadership change in the state by October, Mr Kharge was asked about it on Monday to which the AICC President said it was up to the party high command to decide on such matters and that one should not create any unnecessary problems.
His comments provided fodder to the BJP to make light of his status in the party. The BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, asked, “Who exactly is the high command in the Congress?” Surya jokingly said the Congress High Command was like a “ghost” as it is “unseen, unheard, but always felt.” “Even the Congress President, who people thought is the high command, whispers its name and says it’s not him,” he added.
Reacting to Kharge’s remark, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said the Congress president has no value in the party and only the Gandhi family makes the decisions.
Mr Kharge was responding to media queries about some Congress leaders in the state claiming a change in the post of Chief Minister in October. “See, that is in the hands of the high command. Nobody can say here what is going on in the high command. This is left to the high command, and the high command has got the power to take further action. But unnecessarily, one should not create a problem,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.
In 2023, when the Congress assumed power in the southern state, there were speculations that Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar would helm the state for 2.5 years each, as per a rotational formula, a claim the party has neither confirmed nor rejected so far.
Mr Surjewala, in-charge of Karnataka, who is in Bengaluru, met the party legislators, amid signs of disgruntlement and speculation about leadership change within the ruling party. Reacting to his visit, Mr Kharge said, “Surjewala has come. Based on his report and what feedback he gathers, we will decide what steps to take.”
Calling Mr Kharge an “accidental” AICC president, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, R. Ashoka, asked, “If Kharge is not the party high command, then who is?” In a post on ‘X’, Mr Ashoka said, “Looks like Congress has gifted us another ‘accidental’ leader. First, it was Dr Manmohan Singh, the PM who had the chair but not the command, who had the responsibility but no power. Now it’s Mallikarjun Kharge, the Accidental AICC President, who proudly admits he doesn’t know what the ‘high command’ is thinking,” he said in a post on ‘X’.
“Dear Kharge Ji, if you are not the high command, then who is? Rahul Gandhi? Sonia Gandhi? Priyanka Gandhi or is it an invisible committee of one surname? In @INCIndia, the President is just there for appearances, while decisions are taken behind closed doors at 10 Janpath,” Mr Ashoka alleged. “Same script, new actor. Still directed by the Gandhi family,” he added. There was no immediate response to Mr Ashoka from the Congress side.
While it’s common for Congress leaders to defer decisions to the high command, it raises eyebrows when party president Mallikarjun Kharge does the same. His remarks often lend weight to the BJP’s allegation that Sonia Gandhi and his children– Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra– continue to run the party behind the scenes.
Earlier on Sunday, Karnataka Congress MLA H A Iqbal Hussain claimed that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar may get an opportunity to become the Chief Minister of the state within the next two to three months. “You all know what our (Congress’s) strength was before this government came to power. Everyone knows who put in the struggle, sweat, effort and interest to achieve this victory. His (Shivakumar’s) strategy and programmes are history now. I don’t believe in speculation. We have full confidence that the high command is aware of the situation and will take an appropriate decision at the right time to give him an opportunity,” Hussain said, when asked if Shivakumar had a chance to become CM.
Hussain further pointed out that the Congress high command had decided on government formation after the 2023 Assembly polls. “We were all together in Delhi then. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge made the decision. Everyone knows that. They will take the next decision too—we’ll have to wait and watch,” he said. Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna has also recently hinted at “revolutionary” political developments in the state after September.
Speculation about a leadership change within the ruling Congress has persisted for some time, linked to an alleged power-sharing agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. Such talk had died down after strong instructions from the party high command.
After the Congress won the Assembly elections in May 2023, there was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the CM’s post. The Congress managed to convince Shivakumar to accept the Deputy CM role. Reports at the time suggested a “rotational CM formula,” with Shivakumar set to take over after two-and-a-half years, though this was never officially confirmed.