‘Don’t have options’: How Congress put D K Shivakumar’s CM bid in cold storage

In a sign that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is not likely to be replaced by the Congress with his deputy D K Shivakumar – at least until the conclusion of the upcoming round of key state Assembly elections – the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed Shivakumar as one of its senior observers for the poll-bound Assam.

Four key states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam – along with the Union Territory of Puducherry are headed for the Assembly polls in March-April this year.

The AICC’s move to name Shivakumar as its observer for the BJP-ruled Assam has come amidst a challenge mounted by him in Karnataka for the CM’s post since November 20 last year, when the Siddaramiah-led party government completed the halfway mark of its five-year tenure.

“I don’t have any options. My option is, whatever the party tells us we have to do it. Being a Congressman I have to work for the party. I have seen the press release of the AICC and they have asked me to work in Assam. I had been to Assam earlier as well and now they want me there again,” Shivakumar said in an apparent acceptance of the status quo over the question of change of guard in Karnataka.

The AICC’s announcement about its poll observers came days after it named party national general secretary and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the chairperson of the Screening Committee for the Assam elections.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah being offered cake by state Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar during the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of various development initiatives, in Haveri. (CMO via PTI Photo)

The Congress leadership’s move to deploy Shivakumar for the crucial Assam polls indicates that it has chosen to temporarily put the lid on the chief ministerial issue in Karnataka, which has been raked up by the Deputy CM’s supporters regularly through public posturings.

On his part, Siddaramaiah said he was unaware how long he would continue as the CM, even as Shivakumar again suggested that he was promised the CM’s post at the government’s halfway mark under an informal power sharing deal formulated by the Congress leadership after the party’s return to power in the state in May 2023.

On Wednesday, when he surpassed the seven years and 238-day record of former Congress stalwart Devaraj Urs for being the longest serving Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah said he was not sure how long he would remain in power.

“I have come this far with the blessings of the people. I do not know how long I will remain in power,” the CM said during a media interaction.

While Shivakumar congratulated Siddaramaiah for becoming the longest serving CM by cutting a cake and serving it to him at a public event in Haveri, he also said that politicians must keep their promises.

“I had said earlier that ‘word power is world power’. We should keep our word. We should act as we say. Then we can be called leaders. It is not important how long we stay in politics, it is important how we behave and what we do during that time,” Shivakumar said.

His supporters have claimed that he was “promised” the CM’s post as part of a rotational CM deal after he led the party to a resounding victory in the 2023 Assembly polls as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president.

In recent weeks, however, there have been signs of Siddaramaiah not being replaced on account of his stature as a foremost leader of a major vote bloc comprising the backward classes, Dalits and minorities, who have been associated with the Congress since early 1970s when Urs nurtured this base.

Siddaramaiah’s recent participation as an OBC leader in two events to commemorate the Kerala spiritual guru Sri Narayana Guru – who is held in high regard by OBC groups in Kerala and parts of Karnataka – was seen as an indicator of his continuance as the CM until the conclusion of the Kerala polls despite facing a formidable challenge from Shivakumar.

On Tuesday, when he levelled the record of Urs’ tenure, Siddaramaiah was visibly pleased even as he indicated that he would like a full term if the Congress leadership endorsed it. He nuanced his stance on Wednesday, though.

Siddaramaiah is known to be keenly looking to declare the findings of a socio economic caste survey conducted by the state backward classes body, which he commissioned last year (after a 2015 report from his first tenure was rejected by the Congress leadership), and also to present the 2026-27 Karnataka Budget.

Senior MLC and AICC leader B K Hariprasad, who belongs to an OBC community and is a loyalist of the party central leadership, was among some key Congress leaders who applauded Siddaramaiah on becoming the longest-serving CM. On the occasion, the AICC’s general secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal also called on Siddaramaiah in Mysuru.

To mark Siddaramiah’s feat, Hariprasad said: “May Siddaramaiah, who has equaled the record of ‘Ursu’, who was a ray of hope for the oppressed classes and exploited communities in this state, remain committed to protecting the Constitution, democracy, and socialist values, and continue to serve this state even more as the benefactor of the aspirations of the poor, backward, and Dalits.”