The buzz over a leadership change and cabinet reshuffle in Karnataka has once again intensified after the Congress high command summoned both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar to Delhi.
The rift between the two leaders has never fully cooled ever since the Congress came to power in 2023, with supporters of Shivakumar pointing to an alleged understanding that he would be made chief minister once the government completed its halfway mark.
Latest reports suggest that the high command is in favour of a change of guard in the state as the government completed three years in office on May 20. The party is now reportedly exploring options to implement the smooth transition of power by giving an alternate but major role for Siddaramaiah.
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According to a Hindustan Times report, the Congress is weighing a strategy which the BJP has successfully implemented recently in Bihar. It says Siddaramaiah may be offered a Rajya Sabha seat while his son Yathindra could be offered a possible cabinet berth. In Bihar, BJP had brought in a leadership change by offering a Rajya Sabha seat to then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and making his son Nishant Kumar a cabinet minister.
However, in Karnataka, according to the HT report, things wouldn’t be as smooth as in Bihar. Even if Siddaramaiah may be willing to move to the Rajya Sabha, he is unlikely to see Shivakumar as his successor, it says. Such a scenario could leave the party leadership scrambling to find a consensus candidate. However, some reports suggest that a section of Siddaramaiah’s supporters wants Shivakumar to take up the role as he would be responsible for tackling the potential anti-incumbency wave during the 2028 elections.
Meanwhile, a PTI report quoted party sources as saying that while Siddaramaiah favours a cabinet reshuffle, Shivakumar wants the party to decide on the leadership change first. According to several party insiders, if the Congress high command approves the cabinet reshuffle, it would signal that the incumbent CM will complete the full five-year term, which will scuttle Shivakumar's chances of occupying the coveted post.
At the heart of the power tussle in Karnataka is a reported agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023. According to reports, when the Congress high command chose Siddaramaiah as chief minister, it was understood that Shivakumar would take over after the government reached its halfway mark. However, the party leadership has never publicly acknowledged any such arrangement.
The rivalry has deeply divided the Karnataka Congress, with both leaders taking subtle jabs at each other on social media, prompting intervention from the high command. In December, signalling a temporary truce, the two leaders had met for breakfast twice and presented a united front, as instructed by the party leadership.