NEW DELHI: Shivakumar is said to be facing a pushback from rival camps within the Congress as he holds the positions of state Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister.
Congress Karnataka Unit president and deputy chief minister, DK Shivakumar is facing challenges within the organisation. Party insiders say that he can be replaced as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President.
Shivakumar, who has a solid standing in the state unit organisation and enjoys considerable power in the government is apparently facing a pushback from a rival camp within the party. A top source in the state, while referring to the poor performance of Congress in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, said the reason was that a person cannot hold two positions and cater to the requirements of both adequately. The president of the organisation needs to pay full attention to what goes on in the cadre and what has to happen. But his attention is divided between the organisational post and the government post.
Moreover, with the end of Lok Sabha elections, it can be seen that the rival camp is trying hard to corner Shivakumar, as leaders rumoured to be close to the chief minister have started to push for the appointment of more deputy chief ministers to dilute Shivakumar’s power. A senior leader in the state said, “Siddaramiah’s supporters demand equal representation of all the communities. Since Shivakumar belongs to the Vokkaliga community, the Congress party has the vote bank of Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minorities. Hence, all these communities need representation and four more deputy chief ministers should be appointed from each one of them.”
On the contrary, Shivakumar’s supporters have also been quick to respond. Congress MLA Basavaraju Shivaganga reacted by calling on the party’s high command to make Shivakumar the Chief Minister. When Shivakumar gave up the position of the Chief Minister to Siddaramaiah in a negotiation with the high command, one of his demands was that there would be only one deputy chief minister. Thereby, any calls for more Deputy CMs is unlikely and could evoke a sharp response from Shivakumar. According to a political analyst in the state, “The whole battle is for the chief minister’s position. Siddaramiah wants to run his five-year term smoothly and knock down the claimants of the position he holds, while Shivakumar wants the rotational formula to be applied for the position of chief minister.
The situation has become such that only Rahul Gandhi can intervene and moderate it, or he can chart out a map for both the leaders which can calm them down. For now, both the leaders have their loyalists coming out taking opposite stands.”