BENGALURU: In November-December, Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is likely to take over as the Chief Minister of the state, replacing the veteran Kuruba leader, Siddaramaiah, sources from the state government told The Sunday Guardian.
Recently, soon after CM Siddaramaiah announced that his government was going to hold a new caste census in the next three months, MLC A.S. Vishwanath slammed the Chief Minister by stating that he was lying as it took the same Siddaramaiah two years to conduct a caste census 10 years ago in Karnataka, spending Rs 170 cr at the time. Now that the teachers will not be free during these three months as the schools have just reopened, it is practically impossible for the Siddaramaiah cabinet to conduct the caste census, and moreover Siddaramaiah will be changed from the CM’s position in November-December, MLC Vishwanath asserted.
The MLC also hinted that the new Chief Minister in November-December would be either the Vokkaliga leader D.K. Shivakumar or the president of the AICC, Mallikarjun Kharge.
However, sources from AICC said that leaving a central position where he heads the AICC, Kharge’s coming in as CM of Karnataka was not likely and thus Shivakumar becoming the CM was almost inevitable.
There was a power-sharing agreement between Siddaramiah and D.K. Shivakumar before the Congress formed government in Karnataka—which D.K. Shivakumar had acknowledged more than once. The Congress formed the government in Karnataka on 20 May 2023. However, as the time to change the CM is nearing, the Congress high command has instructed the two leaders to refrain from giving any statements regarding the power-sharing or the next CM.
Sources from the Karnataka government told The Sunday Guardian that D.K. Shivakumar had already expressed his willingness to the High Command to become the CM in November-December whenever there were discussions about that with the central Congress leaders. These discussions have been said to have happened especially when CM Siddaramaiah was embroiled in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam and the BJP in the Opposition had asked him to resign on moral grounds.
It was alleged that the Karnataka CM’s spouse Parvathi received 14 housing sites from MUDA in lieu of her 3.16-acre parcel of land in Kesare village on the outskirts of Mysuru that was “illegally” acquired by the local authority in 2021, when the BJP was in power in Karnataka, and with this they claimed that it led to a loss of Rs 55.80 crore to the state exchequer.
Troubles increased for Siddaramaiah after the Karnataka High Court upheld the governor’s decision to sanction a probe against the CM in the MUDA scam. BJP in the Opposition had conducted state-wide protests demanding the resignation of Siddaramaiah. MUDA scam allegations and the subsequent cases registered against Siddaramaiah including a case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had made considerable damage to the image of the mass leader.
Sources from the AICC said it was then that the discussions on power-sharing had happened within the Congress high command and interestingly at the time, D.K. Shivakumar was seen temple-hopping with his family in Karnataka, cutting short his visit to New Delhi.
With the recent Bengaluru Royal Challengers Bangalore stampede incident, where 11 people lost their lives during the victory parade, the Siddaramaiah-led government’s image took a hit yet again. Though the CM suspended his own political secretary Govindarajum and four senior police officials including the city commissioner of police, the BJP stated that they were made scapegoats while Siddaramaiah was trying to save his face. According to the power-sharing agreement, the two-and-a-half years of the five-year Congress ruling government is coming to an end on 20 November, and it is certain that D.K. Shivakumar will replace Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, sources stated.
