As Siddaramaiah vs Shivakumar power tussle intensifies, here’s a timeline of the infighting within the Congress party in Karnataka

In Karnataka, a political storm is brewing as the ongoing power tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar has intensified. A group of Shivakumar loyalists is reportedly heading to New Delhi to urge the Congress high command to fulfil its ‘promise’ of sharing the CM post.

The imperative to remind Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge of the supposed power-sharing promise arose as the Congress government completes 2.5 years under Siddaramiah.

While CM Siddaramaiah has dismissed the reports of an internal power tussle in the party, saying that he will present the budget, around 10 Shivakumar loyalist MLAs arrived in New Delhi on 20^th November, while several others are reaching there on Friday. The Shivakumar loyalist MLAs are likely to meet Mallikarjun Kharge and demand that the Congress party implement the 2.5-year-each power-sharing arrangement decided upon in 2023 between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar factions.

So far, Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, MLAs Iqbal Hussain, HC Balakrishna, SR Srinivas, Ravi Ganiga, Gubbi Vasu, Dinesh Gooligowda and others have arrived in the national capital. Meanwhile,  Anekal Shivanna, Nelamangala Srinivas, Kunigal Ranganath, Shivaganga Basavaraju, and Balakrishna are also reportedly heading to New Delhi.

Siddaramaiah, though playing it cool, gets anxious when asked about the possibility of him having to step aside for Shivakumar to become Chief Minister. During a recent media interaction, Siddaramaiah said that the chatter around the supposed ‘power-sharing arrangement’ is just an “unnecessary debate”.

“It is only after it was said that the cabinet can be reshuffled after two and a half years, that the issue of changing the Chief Minister has come to the fore. The party leaders need to take a decision on the cabinet reshuffle. There is a total of 34 ministerial posts, out of which two posts are vacant. These vacant ministerial positions will be filled during the cabinet reshuffle,” the Karnataka Chief Minister said.

On one hand, Siddaramaiah is asserting his claim to the throne during his media interactions, social media posts and through his loyalist MLAs; on the other, Shivakumar is distancing himself from the movement of his loyalist MLAs to Delhi to press the demand of his ‘promised’ coronation.

An interesting point to notice here is that on Siddaramaiah’s side, the CM himself is playing on the front foot and asserting his five-year term, on Shivakumar’s side, his loyalists are doing the ‘needful’ while he claims to repeat the standard “whatever the party asks me to do I will do” response to media queries. Clearly, Shivakumar wants to become Chief Minister but is avoiding opening a front against Siddaramaiah publicly to avoid bad optics, while Siddaramaiah is asserting his five-year term to bolster his claim to the CM post and also send out an ‘all is well’ message to the public.

One openly asserting authority, the other bolsters claims to power covertly, the ‘game of thrones’ ongoing between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for months

It is obvious that neither Siddaramaiah nor Shivakumar will openly and absolutely deny or accept their ambitions about the Chief Minister’s post; however, to say that there is no power tussle at all is to think of the public as too naïve.

In just the last four months, four Congress leaders, including three sitting MLAs and a former MP from Mandya, have been issued notices by the party for openly backing Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar as the next Chief Minister.

The notices, sent by the party’s disciplinary committee, accuse them of “causing embarrassment” and going against the instructions of the Congress high command.

Shivakumar loyalists are repeatedly raising demands for replacing Siddaramaiah with their leader. In addition,  DK Shivakumar loyalist leaders are also, apparently as a pressure-building tactic, asserting that he will be promoted to the post before the end of the year.

In October, Kunigal MLA H.D. Ranganath and former Mandya MP L.R. Shivarame Gowda. Just a couple of months ago, Channagiri MLA Shivaganga V. Basavaraj and Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain were issued notices for making similar remarks.

On 1^st July, Iqbal Hussain, a close aide of Shivakumar and Ramanagara Congress MLA, had openly said that Siddaramaiah had already been given enough chances as Chief Minister, five plus two and a half years.

“D.K. Shivakumar has worked hard for the party and got the party 140 seats. He needs to be given a chance to ensure Congress comes back to power in 2028,” Hussain said.

Hussain went on to reveal that he has conveyed these views to Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, despite being told by the high command not to discuss leadership changes publicly.

Congress MLA from Mandya, Ravi Kumar Gowda, said the deputy CM deserves to be the Chief Minister, and when the time is right, he will definitely become the CM. “DK Shivakumar will become Chief Minister when the time comes. 138 MLAs support both DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. When the time is right, DK Shivakumar too will become Chief Minister. When time and circumstance align, good things will happen. He definitely deserves to become Chief Minister, and he will become Chief Minister,” Gowda said.

Congress MLA Tanveer Sait not only hinted at a possible change in leadership but also backed DK Shivakumar. “I feel leadership can’t be stagnant. New leadership has to come and grow. Whenever the opportunity is given, it’ll happen. But individual giving out statements shouldn’t be considered as a protest,” Sait said.

Earlier, Congress MLA CP Yogeshwar from Channapatna also voiced his support for Shivakumar as Karnataka CM and said, “All our district MLAs are united that DK should become Chief Minister. There are no discrepancies about it. High command should decide on it.”

Basavaraj, a first-time MLA, followed in August by predicting that a “change of guard” was coming by December and that Shivakumar would become CM. His remarks were quickly dismissed by Shivakumar, who also promised disciplinary action against those speaking out of turn.

Similarly, Ranganath described Shivakumar as his “political guru” and credited him for Congress’s win in the 2023 Assembly polls. Just as fans of many South-Indian actors hype their favourites by highlighting their ‘pan-India’ appeal, Ranganath called DK Shivakumar a “rising star” and a “pan-India leader”. He said that Shivakumar deserved to be the Chief Minister one day.

Going a step ahead, Shivarame Gowda stated that Shivakumar’s elevation had already been decided and suggested that a decision would come as soon as November. He also claimed that a power-sharing deal of two-and-a-half years each for Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had been assured by the party high command.

The Congress high command took these comments seriously and issued a notice stating, “Your media statements in this regard not only embarrass the party but also violate party discipline. We have taken your unruly statements seriously and seek an explanation. You are required to respond within one week of receiving this notice.”

In April this year, a caste survey report sparked an internal strife within the Congress party in Karnataka and laid bare the leadership aspirations of both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. The survey had revealed the actual caste-wise population in Karnataka, sparking anger among powerful communities like Lingayats, Vokkaligas, and even sections of Muslims, who felt the data could alter reservation politics in the state. Several Congress leaders who are close to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had publicly argued over the revelations and their political consequences.

Interestingly, while the JD(S) MLAs who left the party and moved to Congress twenty years back have been loyal to Siddaramiah and want him to complete the five-year term, DK Shivakumar, who is credited with having played a key role in bringing Congress back in power in the state, is not ready to relinquish his claim to power. Apparently, this is the reason why his supporting MLAs are freely giving media statements and reaching out to the party high command to stake his claim to the CM post. If there was any truth to Shivakumar’s claim of not having any leadership ambitions, he would have silenced his supporters; however, their open ‘fulfil the promise’ calls indicate Shivakumar’s tacit backing.

Besides, for months, Siddaramaiah loyalists have been pushing for getting DK Shivakumar removed from the post of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s president before the state’s local body elections.

Shivakumar was made KPCC chief in 2020, and after Congress won the assembly election in 2023, he was supposed to step down from the post of KPCC president after one year, as he became deputy CM. However, Shivakumar has held the position till now, apparently to ensure his control within the party. Reports said that Siddaramaiah was personally keen on having Shivakumar removed from the KPCC president post.

In a statement reminiscing Shivakumar’s helpless ‘What option do I have?’ remark, the Karnataka deputy CM said on 20^th November, said that “I cannot hold the post permanently” while speaking about him holding the KPCC president post for over five years. While which side the tide will turn remains to be seen, Shivakumar loyalists lobbying for his coronation as Karnataka CM, and his talking about stepping aside from the KPCC president post, hint that Shivakumar may be prepping for replacing Siddaramaiah one step at a time, instead of doing an open rebellion.

Congress blames BJP and media for infighting between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar factions

Playing a convenient blame game, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, who earlier diffused the tensions between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar factions, accused the BJP and the media of running a ‘maligning campaign’ against the Congress government.

“Had a discussion with Karnataka CM and Deputy CM and they agreed that a decisively defeated and faction ridden Karnataka BJP, alongwith a section of the media, are designedly running a maligning campaign against Karnataka and its Congress Government,” Surjewala wrote.

“The sole idea is to undermine the stellar achievements and 5 Congress Govt Guarantees, which have become an outstanding model of inclusive development and distributive justice. The needless Statements of some Congress leaders and MLA’s has also added to the speculation. INC has sternly warned them from making any public statements on the issue of leadership or falling for the agenda being propagated by the vested interests. The opinion of various party functionaries has been taken note of by the leadership,” he added.

While Congress boasts imaginary success of its ‘guarantee’ schemes, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report published in August this year revealed how the five freebies’ schemes– Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyothi, Anna Bhagya, Shakti, and Yuva Nidhi– run by the Congress government have burdened the state’s economy.

Amusingly, Surjewala’s own statement exposes that his allegations against the BJP and media are bogus and only meant to deflect attention from the genuine infighting ongoing within the Karnataka Congress. For argument’s sake, even if it is assumed that BJP and the media are indeed colluding to malign Congress government, why are Congress party’s own MLAs picking sides between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar and want their leader to be the Chief Minister? Are pro-Siddaramaiah and pro-Shivakumar MLAs also hand-in-glove with the BJP and the media?