Bengaluru: The ongoing rabble-rousing in the ruling Congress over the chief minister’s chair has turned into a shadow camp fight between the incumbent Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
On Monday, former Bangalore Rural MP D K Suresh, Shivakumar’s brother, said Siddaramaiah will remain the CM for a full-term.
“The CM’s chair isn’t vacant. I don’t think there’s confusion in the party. There’s a stable government, with Siddaramaiah providing efficient leadership. Even AICC has clarified on this. Siddaramaiah will remain CM for the full term,” Suresh said.
Suresh’s statement came even as the likes of Industries Minister M B Patil, CM’s economic advisor Basavaraj Rayareddi and Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi - all of them Siddaramaiah loyalists - have expressed chief ministerial ambitions.
The view of the Shivakumar camp, voiced by Suresh, is being seen as strategic posturing.
By fully backing Siddaramaiah through this period of uncertainty, Shivakumar wants to tell the Congress high command that he will not violate the party’s discipline and wait for his turn to occupy the CM’s chair when the time comes.
That some uncertainty prevails over the CM’s tenure became evident when Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday pointed to the ongoing High Court case over Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot sanctioning Siddaramaiah’s prosecution and investigation in connection with the MUDA scam.
“As on today, there’s a CM and administration is going on. True, there’s a court case. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
The talk in Congress circles is that the Siddaramaiah camp wants to show that Shivakumar is not the only aspirant for the CM’s chair, thereby scuttling the state Congress president’s chances.
“The idea is to create so much confusion that there shouldn’t be any
change in leadership,” one party insider said.
For example, Rayareddi, on Monday, introduced a regional (Kalyana Karnataka) and caste (Lingayat) angle to the speculation over change in leadership.
By backing the incumbent CM, Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, wants to eliminate contenders so that his path is clear as per a rumoured power-sharing agreement that will see him occupy the top job.
Complaint to Kharge
During the day, state Congress working president Manjunath Bhandary and MLC Dinesh Gooligowda lodged a complaint with AICC Mallikarjun Kharge, asking him to curb speculation over the chief minister’s tenure.
“Statements by ministers and a few senior leaders have triggered a discussion on change in leadership and stability of the government,” they said.
“Ministers should focus on their departments and implementation of government programmes. Instead, they’re talking about their chief ministerial ambitions, which is wrong,” the complaint said and sought disciplinary action.
Hopeful of Siddaramaiah proposing my name: Rayareddi
Speaking to reporters in Koppal, Yelburga MLA and Siddaramaiah’s economic adviser Basavaraj Rayareddi asked as to why he (Rayareddi) couldn’t become CM, if luck favoured him.
“If the party puts a condition that a Lingayat leader from Kalyana-Karnataka region should become CM, then I am the first among aspirants,” he said.
“Only the candidate proposed by Siddaramaiah will become CM. If such a situation arises, I am hopeful that Siddaramaiah will propose my name,” he said.
He also hoped that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge would become the prime minister.
Rayareddi said Siddaramaiah should continue as chief minister. “Only under his rule can Karnataka develop. In case the high court allows the prosecution of the chief minister, he should not tender his resignation,” he said.