The unity shown by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar recently will have many tests
The unity shown by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar recently will have many tests
success of Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Siddaramaiah’s mega birthday eventIt seems, at least for now, that the warring factions in Congress have been persuaded to bury their differences. This comes as a relief amid the ongoing tussle between former chief minister and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar over who should be the next chief minister if the party wins the 2023 elections.
The two leaders, who attracted public attention with their one-upmanship game, sought to show unity by embracing each other in front of a huge crowd at Davangere on August 3. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi expressed happiness over the performance. To drive home the point of collective leadership, Mr. Gandhi praised Mr. Siddaramaiah’s five-year rule as well as Mr. Shivakumar’s organizational skills. Targeting him for “misgovernance” and “failures” of the ruling BJP on several issues besides “corruption scams”, the state Congress would be able to oust him, he said.
Mr Gandhi, who attended the first meeting of the KPCC’s political affairs committee in Hubballi just before the big event, sent a clear message to the leaders that public rhetoric on the party’s internal affairs and leadership issues would not be tolerated. After apparently being chased, the two leaders rallied in support of the ‘Freedom March’ to be held on August 15 and jointly addressed a press conference to mark the anniversary of the Quit India Movement.
There were other signs of a mega event as well. Importantly, Mr. Gandhi, accompanied by Mr. Shivakumar, went to Murugarajendra Math in Chitradurga district before the event. In order to win back the support of the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, Sri Gandhi received ‘ishta linga initiation’ from Shivamurthy Murugha Sharan, the priest of the monastery, and showed interest in learning Basavanna’s teachings. This is seen as politically significant at a time when the Congress is trying to woo Lingayats, who are largely believed to be loyal to the ruling BJP. Three BJP chief ministers have emerged from this community – BS Yediyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and Basavaraj Bommai. This outreach gains importance after Lingayat leader Mr Yediyurappa was ousted from the post of Chief Minister as well as his recent announcement that he would be retiring from electoral politics.
The KPCC chief is understood to have conveyed a message to the saints of the monastery that the party would not repeat the “mistakes” made in the past. The Siddaramaiah-led government’s decision to secure a separate religion tag for Lingayats is seen as dividing the community leaders and tarnishing their prospects in the 2018 assembly elections.
The backward Kuruba community, to which the former chief minister belongs, is a major community among the Ahindas (minorities, backward classes and dalits). Kurubas have a good presence across the state except in the coastal region, and Mr. Siddaramaiah is counting on the Ahinda communities to turn fortunes in favor of the Congress in 2023. On the other hand, Vokkaliga community leader Shivakumar and some Congress leaders are keen to strike a balance to ensure that the Ahinda agenda does not alienate Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas from the Congress. Veerashaiva-Lingayats predominate in North Karnataka, while Vokkaligas predominate in the old Mysore region. While it is difficult to say which way the vote will go, both Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Siddaramaiah will face a challenge during the distribution of tickets to their loyalists next year. This will be the real test whether the show of unity between the two leaders will work or not.
Nagesh.p@thehindu.co.in