Siddaramaiah's 'Plan' In Case Congress Wants To Promote DK Shivakumar

The Congress' 'leadership games', the Karnataka edition, kicked into high gear Thursday.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's camp is on alert to descend on Delhi and pressure the party into retaining their man in the top job, sources told NDTV. He is in 'wait-and-watch' mode, NDTV was told, after having admitted to "confusion" this week and demanding the party "put a full stop" to it.

Siddaramaiah's supporters, sources said, will swing into action if party boss Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi 'give even the slightest hint' his rival, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who has publicly downplayed a tilt at his boss' job, will be promoted.

And if the party still insists on a new chief minister, they will be presented with a list of alternatives, sources said, something which underscores the deep rift between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who have been squabbling over the top job since the Congress' big 2023 election win.

READ | NDTV Decodes Siddaramaiah-DK Shivakumar Power Struggle

One alternative could be Home Minister G Parameshwara, a Siddaramaiah-backer and influential Dalit leader, who raised eyebrows with this remark: "I've always been in the race (to be Chief Minister)."

This strategy was finalised Wednesday at a meeting led by PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, also a Siddaramaiah loyalist, who told NDTV the party's Delhi leaders need to settle this issue.

READ | "Should Be Solved Soon": Karnataka Minister On Leadership Tussle

Jarkiholi has also met DKS but neither side revealed details of the meeting.

Kharge and the Gandhis are expected to sit down, today or tomorrow, to thrash out this problem.

An exasperated party boss told reporters "Sonia, Rahul, and I will fix it…"

The plan is to summon Siddaramaiah and DKS to Delhi after the Kharge-Gandhis meet.

READ | "Sonia, Rahul, I Will Fix It": M Kharge On Karnataka Congress Crisis

DKS has been largely non-confrontational during all of this, and has made all the politically correct statements, even including endorsing his rival for the job he wants and downplaying statements on his behalf – like Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain's "200 per cent sure" remark – in his support.

He has, however, let a few cryptic (but no less pointed) comments slip, including reminders about the importance of honouring promises. That was directed squarely at Siddaramaiah.

READ | 'Keeping Promise A Big Power Move': Shivakumar Reminds Congress

The Siddaramaiah-DKS feud broke after the Congress' 2023 election win. The party opted for the former as its new chief minister, a role the latter felt he deserved after orchestrating the victory.

Instead, he was made the deputy and allowed to remain as the party's state unit boss; the Congress' 'one man, one post' rule was bent to allow this. There was also talk then of a 'agreement' – another not-so-cryptic DKS remark was about a "secret deal between five or six of us" – that would see Siddaramaiah stand down midway through the five-year term.

That midway point passed last week. Since then DKS-backing lawmakers have been ramping up pressure on the party to effect that switch. DKS himself has made no secret of wanting the job; he seemed to underline this last week by hinting at quitting as the Karnataka Congress boss.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.