Breakfast over, uncertainty lingers

Though Karnataka chief minister Mr Siddaramaiah and his deputy Mr. DK Shivakumar broke bread together on Saturday and refuted reports of difference of opinion between them, the uncertainty lingers on the question of continuance of the former in the hot seat. It is three months since the two leaders have been locked in a power tussle which has led to a lot of confusion in the party’s rank and file, if not disarray. Karnataka is the only large state where the Congress is in power and the kind of tug-of-war that has been going on, doesn’t provide a happy picture about the internal affairs of the party.

While there has been talk of DKS mobilizing MLAs who are his camp followers, there are also rumours of some of them knocking at the doors of the party high command in Delhi calling for a change. On the other hand, Mr. Siddaramaiah has dug in his heels and is bent on completing the five-year term. The DKS camp has been citing a compromise formula on the five-year tenure being evenly divided between the two leaders, which they claim was reached when the party stepped into the power saddle.

Though there is no reference, evidence or confirmation of a written assurance or formal declaration from the High Command, the DKS camp has been increasingly insisting on there being an unwritten understanding between the two leaders and the there being a tacit approval of the High Command. Of late, he and his supporters have been talking in terms of fulfilling a commitment and delinking the demand for change to any personal ambition.   

Not alone this. The caste lobbies too have pitched in what with heads of Mutts affiliated to the rival castes issuing dire warnings for and against change. Meanwhile, the High Command seems to be non-committal about there being any agreement on neat division of the tenure between the incumbent CM and his deputy and the contender of the post. Whatever may be the stances, the state is witnessing an unsavoury spectacle within the ruling party which won a landslide victory in 2023.

Though the two sides have maintained civility in making claims and counter claims, there is no guarantee that it wouldn’t turn into a slugfest in due course, which will not be in the interest of party unity. The situation calls for an early settlement of disagreements or truce between the two heavyweights, each one of whom is crucial for the party’s future. The midpoint having been crossed, they need to keep a sharp eye over the party’s poll prospects in the 2028 elections.

DKS bubbles with positive energy with a long list of sacrifices for the party and can duly lay claim to the large Vokkaliga community being beholden to him. Mr. Siddaramaiah, besides having ably led the government during 2018-23 and till the midpoint during the present tenure, is assured of support of the substantial AHINDA, an umbrella of the backward communities in the state. The party and government require a thorough overhaul what with the conflict over leadership having weakened the sinews of the party organization. Uncertainty should not be allowed to linger over the party apparatus.