Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is a frontrunner in the race for CM post after Congress’s landslide victory in the state assembly elections.
According to CNN-News18 sources, Congress has not ruled out Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumara yet but Siddaramaiah is the top contender for the CM post. The Congress government is also likely to have three deputy chief ministers including one from the Lingayat community.
As many as 38 out of 51 Lingayat candidates fielded by Congress have won elections.
After sweeping Karnataka, the real battle for the Congress begins now as it faces the tough task of deciding its chief minister. So far, there are two top contenders — former chief minister and old warhorse Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief and trouble-shooter DK Shivakumar.
The comparison to Rajasthan cannot be missed when Sachin Pilot was the state Congress chief for almost four years and took the credit for the party’s win. However, Ashok Gehlot was the former chief minister and the party felt he had the support of majority MLAs and should be made the CM with Pilot as his deputy. Pilot had the backing of the Gandhis but that was not good enough to ensure that he became the chief minister.
In Karnataka, the situation is similar yet different. Most of the MLAs are with Siddaramaiah who arguably remains the most charismatic and popular Congress leader. In addition, Siddaramaiah hails from the backward Kuruba community and together with a Dalit as party president, the narrative of the Congress as a party that cares for the downtrodden is something that can work in its favour for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
While most in the party feel Siddaramaiah ticks the right boxes, Shivakumar is no less deserving. One, he has the complete support of the party. Two, in times of distress, as in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, he was the one who booked resorts for the party. DK’s supporters feel he is the best choice.
Like in the case of Pilot, many of DK’s supporters feel if he is not made the chief minister, it would send the message that Congress doesn’t believe in new blood and generation change. However, the reality in Karnataka is that DK still has to get over the tag of being a largely Delhi-created leader who can wait for his time to come.
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