Siddu’s 2.5 years end in Nov 25’; DKS CM dream distant

Bengaluru: Perhaps the worst kept secret of Karnataka politics is that back in May 2023, the party state unit Chief DK Shivakumar accepted the Deputy Chief Minister’s post only because he was promised a promotion in the second half of the term. The Congress high command promised an initially implacable Shivakumar that he’d head the government for the latter two-and-a-half years. This came to be because the party’s most popular leader Siddaramaiah won the support of some 100 of the 135 MLAs in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held on May 14, 2023.

While Shivakumar accepted this reality, he insisted in public that all 135 MLAs were elected under his leadership as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president. He became Siddaramaiah’s deputy provided he didn’t share the post with anyone else. Moreover, Shivakumar insisted on some choice portfolios like Bengaluru Development and Major Irrigation. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar also fought tooth and nail to get their loyalists named to the Cabinet. Notably, Siddaramaiah’s two-and-a-half years are slated to end in November 2025. However, it may be a repeat of what happened to Congress in Rajasthan when sitting CM Ashok Gehlot refused to vacate the post for Sachin Pilot, citing the support of the majority of the MLAs.

Siddaramaiah loyalists such as Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa and Industries Minister MB Patil have insisted in public that Siddaramaiah will remain CM for the entirety of the five-year-term. Others in the CM’s corner like Co-operation Minister KN Rajanna and Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi have even insisted that more ministers be given the Deputy CM status. The reason being cited is representation of different communities but it is seen as a ploy to cut Shivakumar down to size.

MUDA scam factors in: What has complicated matters for Siddaramaiah is that for the first time in his political career his image of a clean leader is being called into question given his wife’s involvement in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) illegal site allotment scam. The CM’s brother-in-law BM Mallikarjunaswamy acquired 3.16 acres of land in Kesare village on the outskirts of Mysuru in 2004 as agricultural land despite the presence of a layout there. He made a gift deed of it to his sister BM Parvati in 2010.

In 2014, Parvati wrote to MUDA claiming they had begun construction on her land illegally and demanded relief. In 2022, she received 14 alternative sites from MUDA, allegedly of much higher value than lost land. On August 17, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot sanctioned a probe against Siddaramaiah in the case alongside his wife and brother-in-law.

Parvati returned the sites under pressure in September 2024 even as the Opposition continued to demand Siddaramaiah's resignation. The case is being investigated by the Lokayukta and a plea by Siddaramaiah against the probe is due before the Karnataka High Court (HC) division bench.