Siddaramaiah in a quandary after Shivakumar’s one-ticket decision

BENGALURU: In what may be described as a resumption of rivalry between Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, D.K. Shivakumar, and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, a fresh salvo from the former has driven the Kuruba leader to a corner over choosing a safe seat.
Speaking to media persons, Shivakumar said that so far 1,250 applications have come and in many constituencies, there is a demand from 6 to 7 leaders. “Ultimately, every candidate will get only one ticket, no one will be allowed to contest from two constituencies. The sheer number of applications is an indicator that there is a wave in our favour and against the BJP. The one ticket rule is applicable to everyone including me,” he said.
When asked about Siddaramaiah mentioning three constituencies—Varuna, Kolar and Badami—DKS said that even Siddaramaiah had to choose one. “He is still deciding which one to contest from and when the time comes, he has to opt for one. The rules are the same for all and even he knows that. Every vote, and every constituency is important to us. There is a screening committee, there is a high command and everything will fall in place soon,” he told The Sunday Guardian.
Ever since D.K. Shivakumar was made the KPCC president, which is considered one step closer to becoming Chief Minister, there has been a huge rivalry between him and Siddaramaiah that goes down to the level of legislators, corporators and booth level leaders. It may be recalled that in 2013, when Congress got a majority in Karnataka, DKS was kept out of power for over a year by Siddaramaiah. Only at the end of 2014, when Siddaramaiah bowed to pressure from the high command, did he allow DKS to be a part of his cabinet.
Coming to back Siddaramaiah, he announced recently that he would not contest from Badami, which he currently represents after winning with a slender margin against B. Sriramulu, setting him on a state-wide search for a safe seat. Siddaramaiah, who visited Kolar recently along with his supporters to take the response from the local leaders, came back full of doubts. The turf war between former Speaker, Ramesh Kumar, who is a close aide of Siddaramaiah, and former Railway Minister, V. Muniyappa, led to the latter giving this visit a big miss, sparking rumours of a huge rift. Although Siddaramaiah returned to Bengaluru the same night, making a statement there that he would return to file his nomination, sources close to the former Chief Minister told The Sunday Guardian that he was keeping his options close to his chest.
It is a tricky situation for Siddaramaiah, as he cannot ask his son to make way from Varuna, which he parted with the last time to give his son a political boost. “This is his last election. Although he has established himself as an OBC mass leader, the fear of forces joining hands has left him on tenterhooks. The Chamundeshwari debacle is still playing on his mind. During the last elections, there were allegations that he caused the defeat of Dr G. Paramehswari who was with him in the CM race. This time, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar has made it more than obvious that he is the top contender. Even Rahul Gandhi has acknowledged that DK is also capable. This has left Siddaramaiah worried,” a source in the Congress said.
In 2006, when Siddaramaiah had quit the Janata Dal (Secular), the Chamundeshwari byelection was a litmus test and he wriggled out a victory with a wafer-thin margin. With JDS on one side, BJP on the other, the fear of his own partymen sabotaging his chances has made choosing a safe seat jittery for the Ahinda leader.