The Siddaramaiah-DK Shivakumar tug-of-war over the Chief Minister’s post – a headache the Congress could do without after another year of electoral defeats – flared up again Friday with DKS’ unsubtle reference to Sonia Gandhi ‘sacrificing power’.
At an event in Bengaluru, DKS spoke about the former Congress boss having given up the chance to become Prime Minister in 2004 after the party-led United Progressive Alliance won the Lok Sabha election. Instead she elevated Manmohan Singh, an economist par excellence who served as Governor of the Reserve Bank and the Union Finance Minister, DKS said.
“Sonia Gandhi was Congress President for 20 years. She also sacrificed power… (then-President of India) Abdul Kalam called her to become the next PM but she refused and suggested Manmohan Singh as someone who could develop the country.”
DKS also threw in a (far) more politically correct remark into his speech, calling on the people of the state to “always remain with this Congress government led by Siddaramaiah” and to “bless us once again (in the 2028 election)”.
The party’s southern strongman, credited with orchestrating the 2023 win, has made it a point to alternate jabs in the chief ministerial battle with exhortations to the cadre and leaders to focus on the next poll.
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