Opinion | A 'Bangarappa' Redux? How Another Karnataka Chief Minister Was Asked To Resign In 1992

Whether the Congress high command, after dilly-dallying for months, has taken a 'bold' decision or a 'reckless' one in asking Siddaramaiah to resign as the Chief Minister of Karnataka and make way for someone else, will become clearer in the next two to three days.

A sanguine meeting of the Congress bigwigs' huddle in New Delhi on Tuesday, which the Siddaramaiah group had expected to be a routine filibustering exercise indulged in by the leadership to ward off DK Shivakumar's demand to install him as Chief Minister, took an unexpected and dramatic turn in the afternoon. It left Siddaramaiah, according to an observer, "shell-shocked".

It all happened after the leaders broke for lunch and Rahul Gandhi went home for his meal and held discussions with his mother, Sonia Gandhi, and sister, Priyanka Gandhi. Reports suggest that Rahul informed them that apart from the general meeting where they discussed the Rajya Sabha and legislative council nominations from Karnataka, he had one-on-one deliberations with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, where nothing much emerged.

Sonia, Priyanka Speak Up

At this point, Sonia reminded Rahul about the 'commitment' she had made to Shivakumar and suggested that it was time to honour it. Priyanka, who had always backed Shivakumar, reportedly argued that given his long-standing loyalty and consistent support to the party, he deserves a chance to lead now - especially as Siddaramaiah has already had his tenure and would be 80 by the next Assembly elections.

As the group consisting of Malikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar reconvened after lunch, Rahul Gandhi, who walked in a few minutes later and took his seat, looked at Siddaramaiah straight and told him he would have to step down. It seems there was a stunned look on Siddaramaiah's face when Rahul broke the bad news to him. He had always counted on Rahul Gandhi as his strongest supporter, who played a key role on both occasions when he became the Chief Minister and always backed him.

Blaming The Media

There was no reaction from anyone in the room. Immediately, party general secretary KC Venugopal led senior leaders out of Indira Bhavan and famously told the anxiously waiting media that only election issues were discussed and "everything else is your (media's) speculation".

In less than an hour, top Congress "sources" started telling the media that Siddaramaiah had been asked to step down and his deputy, Shivakumar, would take his place. It was a calculated strategy to let the world know and allow time for Siddaramaiah to "process" the information and begin negotiations on his "honourable exit".

Siddaramaiah, accompanied by his trusted colleagues, Parameshwara, KJ George, HC Mahadevappa and Byrathi Basavaraj, left for George's bungalow in Delhi and got into a huddle, just as Shivakumar, along with his supporters, moved to Karnataka Bhavan to carry out their respective strategy sessions.

Around 8.30 pm, as an SUV carrying Siddaramaiah rolled out of George's place, the waiting camerapersons and journalists rushed to him frenetically asking, "Are you resigning, sir?", "Have you been asked to step down, sir?"

A glum-faced Siddaramaiah merely looked at mediapersons from behind the rolled-up car window and left without uttering a word.

A Blast From The Past

The images that started flashing on the TV screens on Tuesday night reminded this author of a similar scenario in 1992. I was a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in New Delhi, covering a few central ministries, the Rajya Sabha, and, of course, Karnataka. S Bangarappa, a popular backward class leader, who had taken charge as Chief Minister after the unceremonious "sacking" of a veteran, Veerendra Patil, had been facing unprecedented dissidence from his own partymen. Every two to three weeks, groups of MLAs would visit Delhi carrying "charge-sheets" against the Bangarappa government's alleged corruption and misrule.

PV Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister, was dealing with multiple headaches running a minority government, and found Karnataka's problems highly vexing. One day, he summoned Bangarappa to Delhi for a meeting.

That wintry night in 1992, when Bangarappa trudged into the Prime Minister's house, Rao was ready with a bulky file the PMO had prepared after inquiring into the complaints against the Chief Minister. He read out one or two complaints and asked Bangarappa for his reaction. When the Chief Minister remained silent, Rao reportedly told him, "I'm sacking you as Chief Minister. Please go to Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru and submit your resignation."

I was among a small bunch of reporters waiting outside the Prime Minister's residence. We already knew that the meeting had not gone too well for Bangarappa. As soon as the car carrying him came out, we rushed to him, asking, "Have you been told to resign?", "What is the next course of action?"

Bangarappa drove down to Karnataka Bhavan at Chanakyapuri and got into a huddle with his supporting ministers and MLAs. Seemingly furious with the Prime Minister, he told his supporters, "I will show this old man who Bangarappa is!" He made a few phone calls to Bengaluru and asked his henchmen to arrange for all Congress legislators to reach the Bengaluru airport with "lakhs" of their supporters.

When Reality Hit Bangarappa

Bangarappa was convinced that the people of backward classes would "erupt" in anger against the high command, and, with MLAs also backing him, he would be able to create a "political crisis" that could force the Prime Minister to rescind his decision. The next morning, when the plane carrying Bangarappa landed at the airport, there were six of his party MLAs and a couple of hundred supporters raising slogans.

Bangarappa didn't waste time going to the Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation.

Circa 2026

Siddaramaiah is only the second person from the backward classes to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He has gone on to create a record as the one with the longest tenure. The world is looking at him for his reaction. He has maintained silence ever since the Congress high command took the decision and promised to speak on Thursday. He deserves his space and time.

(The author is a senior journalist)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author