New Delhi: After the Congress Legislative Party met last evening, May 14, it passed a resolution allowing the party high command to choose between Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar. Since early this morning, May 15, speculations were rife that the 75-year-old Siddaramaiah will likely be announced as the next chief minister of Karnataka.
According to a some reports, over 80 newly elected MLAs preferred Siddaramaiah over Shivakumar in a secret ballot that the two observers from All India Congress Committee (AICC) conducted last evening.
As the scales tipped in favour of the former Congress chief minister, Shivakumar spoke to the media expressing his grouse. He said that the Congress high command, especially the Gandhis, should have the “basic courtesy”, “gratitude” to acknowledge his role in delivering the state to the Congress. He also said that when the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government fell in 2019 because of defections by 17 legislators, Sonia Gandhi had entrusted him to lead the state unit of the party, and without losing heart he pulled up his socks to work hard and eventually secure the state for his party.
However, the AICC appears to be taking a decision in favour of Siddaramaiah not only because of his popularity among a majority of Congress legislators but also because he is widely regarded as a mass leader in the state. Most election surveys pointed out that a majority of people believed that Siddaramaiah is the ideal candidate for chief minister’s position.
Also read: For Congress, the Karnataka Election Outcome Is an Important Moment of Critical Reflection
The Lokniti-CSDS survey showed that over 40% respondents thought that Siddaramaiah is the best candidate for the chief minister’s position – almost 20 percentage points over the outgoing Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. Shivakumar was even lower in the popularity ladder.
Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were called to Delhi today. However, while Siddaramaiah is already in Delhi, Shivakumar expressed his inability to leave Bengaluru because of “ill health” that many observers interpreted as his token protest. Shivakumar, however, said that he is a man with a “presence of mind” and has no plan to leave the Congress.
NDTV reported him as saying: “I won’t blackmail, that’s not me. Don’t perceive anything. I have my own presence of mind. I am not a child. I won’t fall in a trap”.
The AICC is currently invested in deciding a powerful role for Shivakumar, if Siddaramaiah becomes the chief minister. Some sources in the Congress told The Wire that he may be appointed as deputy chief minister and may be given important portfolios in the cabinet.
Sources also said that the swearing-in could be on May 18 and the formal announcement declaring Siddaramaiah as the chief minister is likely to be made tonight or tomorrow morning (May 15).
The post-election tussle was expected as both the leaders represent two rival factions in the Congress. Although both buried their differences during the campaign, they are known to make caustic remarks against each other.
Also read: Ten Factors to Remember Amidst the Congress’s Win and BJP’s Defeat in Karnataka
The Congress will have to make a tough call between choosing a popular leader that can keep the electorate happy and rewarding the efforts of Shivakumar under whose leadership the party not only got its act together but also won the election with a thumping majority.
The BJP, meanwhile, has attacked the Congress for not being able to decide its chief minister despite winning with a great majority, implying that it’s in an alleged indecisive mode. However, many people on the internet had pointed towards a similar indecisiveness on the part of the BJP earlier.
In 2017, when the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh, the saffron party took more than a week to finalise the name of Yogi Adityanath. A similar delay also happened when the BJP had come to power in Assam and Tripura.