Karnataka Suspense Continues After DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah’s Meetings
New Delhi:
The suspense over the Karnataka Chief Minister’s post after the Congress’s emphatic victory last week appears headed towards a conclusion, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge meeting the two contenders — DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah — this evening. The meetings, though, were inconclusive. Mr Kharge is trying to strike a balance and another round of meeting will be held tomorrow, sources said.
Mr Shivakumar, who earlier made it clear that he would not back down in the tense rivalry with Siddaramaiah, is understood to have told Mr Kharge that he is ready to work as an “ordinary MLA” if he does not get the Chief Minister’s post.
Though he presented his case for the top post, he also pointed out that Mr Kharge himself, despite his stature and position, never became a Chief
Siddaramaiah had spent much of yesterday 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 have been briefed on the views of the newly elected MLAs by the team of observers sent to the state. Mr 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 DK 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.
Sources have said the party could announce the name of the next Karnataka Chief Minister over the next 24 hours.
The politically crucial Lingayat community, meanwhile, has staked claim to the Chief Minister’s post. 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.
Mr Shivakumar arrived in Delhi this afternoon after canceling his visit last night, citing a stomach infection. “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,” Mr Shivakumar asserted.
In polls held last week, the Congress won a clear majority in Karnataka, finishing with 135 seats in the 224-member assembly. Its celebrations were, however, tempered with anxiety over the Siddaramaiah versus Shivakumar contest for the top job, which drags on for the third day without a solution.