Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 16: The suspense over naming the new chief minister of Karnataka continued on Tuesday after the Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge held one-to-one meetings with two major aspirants, the state Congress chief DK Shivakumar and the former chief minister Siddaramaiah after a close-door meeting with the former president Rahul Gandhi.
The party sources said a final decision on the party’s choice for the post would be taken by Kharge and is likely to be announced only in the state capital Bengaluru at a legislature party meeting on Wednesday. The new ministry is expected to be installed on Thursday.
Shivakumar, who had declined to turn up to Delhi on Monday due to some “stomach infection,” reached the national capital on Tuesday and held a meeting with Kharge which was followed by the Congress president meeting with Siddaramaiah.
Prior to this, Kharge held a closed-door meeting with Rahul Gandhi for almost an hour and a half. Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Karnataka, and AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal were also present at that meeting.
Shivakumar has made it clear that he would not back down in his stake for the coveted post but he would abide by the party’s final decision and would not resort to “backstabbing or blackmail” regardless of the party’s decision. He also ruled out quitting.
“The party is my god…We have built this party, I am a part of it and I am not alone in this,” he said before flying out of Bengaluru. “We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it…A mother will give everything to her child,” he added, indicating that he expected the party to reward him for his role in Congress’s Karnataka victory.
But he repeated that he would not rebel. “If the party wants, they can give me the responsibility… Ours is a united house, our number is 135. I don’t want to divide anyone here. Whether they like me or not, I am a responsible man. I will not backstab and I will not blackmail,” Shivakumar asserted.
Siddaramaiah spent much of Monday in Delhi, where he met with senior Congress leaders amid speculation that he is closer to the finish line than his younger colleague. “Let’s wait and see. I don’t know,” he told reporters cautiously, asked when there would be an announcement.
The party’s leadership was briefed by the team of observers on the views of the newly elected MLAs. Kharge and senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal later held talks on the knotty question of the top post, which could affect the party’s prospects in the next year’s general election.
Settling for either of the two contenders may lead to alienating the other, as well as their support base – within the party and out. In Shivakumar’s case, it could mean a large section of the politically crucial Vokkaligas. In case of Mr Siddaramaiah, it could mean a chunk of MLAs backing him, and the AHINDA platform — — an old social combination of minorities, Other Backward Classes, and Dalits, which had voted en masse for the Congress.
While Shivakumar seems to have blessings of the party high command for his organisational skills and emphatic victory in the polls, Siddaramaiah claims that he has support of a majority of legislators. Siddaramaiah has previous administrative experience as the Chief Minister and Mr. Shivakumar has earned the name of being the party’s trouble-shooter, sources said.
Speaking about the process of selection, senior party leader B.K. Hariprasad said the MLAs were asked for their open feedback on their choice of Chief Minister during their interaction with the three observers and a secret ballot was held. The observers have taken the ballot boxes to Delhi for counting of votes.
As part of pressure building, other claims for the chief minister’s post have also surfaced including the politically crucial Lingayat community. In a letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha pointed out that 34 of the 46 Lingayat leader fielded by the Congress have won. “We now urge the Congress party to give a chance/consider (a) Veerashaiva Lingayat community leader for the post of Chief Minister,” they wrote.
Another claim has come in from the Dalit community. Supporters of veteran Congress leader G Parameshwara held a demonstration, demanding that the Dalit leader be chosen for the Chief Minister post. At the gathering in Tumkur, placards reading “a Dalit should be CM” were waved.
The community, which accounts for 17 per cent of Karnataka’s population, can potentially swing outcomes in nearly 100 seats. It is the community’s electoral significance that saw all parties vie for its support and promote Lingayat leaders in the run-up to the polls. The organisation has further suggested that it is important that the Congress retains the support of the community for the general election due next year.
“Considering the above facts, we now urge the Congress party to give a chance/consider (a) Veerashaiva Lingayat community leader for the post of Chief Minister of Karnataka state,” the letter states. The organisation has also requested the Congress chief to ensure a number of cabinet berths for the community “which is proportionate to the number of MLAs of our community.”
The demand for the Chief Minister post, however, seems more like a pressure building tactic as the two tallest Congress leaders in Karnataka are in running for the job and no third name has been come up in discussions so far.
Siddaramaiah, 75, is a former Chief Minister and Shivakumar, 61, is the party’s Karnataka chief. Both claim to have a majority of MLAs backing their claim to the chief minister’s post. While Siddaramaiah is seen to be a leader with mass appeal and completed a full term in 2013-18, Shivakumar is known for his strong organisational capabilities, and is considered resourceful and Congress’ trouble-shooter during tough times.
The seeds of Congress’ current dilemma over the choice of a chief minister were, in fact, sown during their poll campaign. To take on the BJP’s formidable election machinery, the party avoided projecting a single leader as the face of its campaign. Instead, it projected the trio of Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and its national chief Kharge as leading its Karnataka push.
While Shivakumar belongs to the influential Vokkaliga community, which dominates southern Karnataka, Mr Siddaramaiah is a Kuruba, a backward caste group that has sizeable presence in central and northern Karnataka. With the Dalit roots of its national president Kharge, Congress got a panel of leaders that appealed, in total, to a huge chunk of Karnataka’s population.
While this hugely benefited the Congress campaign and paved the way for its victory, the competing claims for the top job are now proving to be a hurdle in its decision-making. Siddaramaiah is learnt to have emerged as the frontrunner, with majority of the newly elected MLAs claimed to have named him as their choice, Shivakumar played the hardball with his brother D K Suresh holding his brief on his behalf during his meeting with Kharge on Monday.
