Leadership Change in Karnataka Likely, Congress High Command Though Call it “Only Speculation”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 26: The Congress high command on Tuesday officially rejected any talk of leadership change in Karnataka but the party is learnt to have impressed upon the chief minister Siddaramaiah to step down voluntarily and let his deputy DK Shivakumar to take over.
The central leadership attempted to impress upon the media that the marathon six-hour meeting with the top leadership of Karnataka was only about the state’s three vacant Rajya Sabha seats and the Karnataka legislative council elections rejecting all talks about leadership change a “mere speculation.”
“Only speculation, no discussions other than on upcoming Rajya Sabha polls,” the party said after the meeting. The meeting, party general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters, was attended by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. “Discussions were held regarding the Rajya Sabha and MLC elections. There is no truth to any other speculation,” he said. Siddaramaiah said the agenda of a cabinet expansion did not come up for discussion either.
The leadership issue in the state has been in the headlines for more than a year, with DK Shivakumar’s supporters standing firm on the claim that the top leaders had promised a rotating Chief Ministership when the party formed government after the 2023 assembly elections.
The matter was expected to be resolved now with the party feeling the pinch of anti-incumbency and renewed activity in the BJP camp. There were reports that a call for revamp in leadership has the backing of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
But the high command was not in favour of forcing Siddaramaiah out despite that he is 80 and have less-than-sterling administrative record. The reason, sources had indicated, was because of his ahinda support base that encompasses minority communities, backward classes, and Dalits and had helped Congress bypass the Vokkaliga-Lingayat caste equation in 2023.
Despite the big row about the rotation issue November – when the Siddaramaiah government completed two years in power – the Congress had opted for status quo in view of a possible backlash from these communities during the assembly election in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Now that the election is over, there is much optimism that Shivakumar will finally get his chance. The 64-year-old Deputy Chief Minister also holds the post of the state Congress chief – a departure from Rahul Gandhi’s one-man-one-post dictum that underscores his importance to the party.
The party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also believed to be supporting leadership change in favour of Mr Shivakumar. On Tuesday afternoon, the two squabbling leaders are said to have met jointly and independently met the four top leaders, Mr Kharge, Mr Gandhi, Mr Venugopal and Ms Priyanka Gandhi for hours to work out a formula to allow the veteran his exit (maybe with a Rajya Sabha seat) and install his challenger to guide the party through the 2028 elections.
The Congress leadership has been aware for some time that a change was necessary to counter Karnataka’s anti-incumbency factor and make sure its rival, the BJP cannot halt its shrinking footprint in the southern states. To that end, the four leaders reportedly impressed on Siddaramaiah the need to let DKS take over. The ideal solution is for Siddaramaiah to stand down of his own volition.
Shivakumar belongs to the Vokkaliga caste – traditionally a stronghold of the Janata Dal Secular. Making him chief minister could steal valuable votes from that community. That would not only impact the JDS but, crucially, also the BJP, its ally.
The last big flare-up was in November 2025 when the Congress government completed two-and-a-half years in power. Hitting the halfway mark was the cue for DKS’ supporters to make public references to the ‘agreement’ the two party reportedly executed after the 2023 win. The ‘agreement’ was that Siddaramaiah and DKS would ‘share’ power, i.e., each would be chief minister for two-and-a-half years. Neither leader, nor the party, has acknowledged such a ‘deal’.
Troubleshooter was sent down to put out the fire which he did by urging the warring factions to focus on the Kerala and Tamil Nadu elections – which were then six months away. But now those polls are over – the Congress won Kerala and controversially aligned with actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to share power in Tamil Nadu, heralding that the time has come to consider the Karnataka leadership change issue. And that is believed to have been decided in favour of Mr Shivakumar.
