In a battle of perception as well as prestige in their respective traditional political bastions, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been crisscrossing the Lok Sabha constituencies of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, while his deputy D.K. Shivakumar is aggressively campaigning in Bengaluru Rural and Mandya, roping in leaders of the Opposition into the Congress to boost their electoral advantage over the rival alliance of BJP-JD(S).
As the mercury rises in the election campaign, the one-upmanship between the two top Congress leaders also seems to be resurfacing, with both stoking the issue in their respective bastions of possible change of leadership in the State government after the election results.
The term of Mr. Shivakumar, who has been the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for the last four years, is expected to end after the Lok Sabha elections. Victories on his Vokkaliga-dominated home turf of Bengaluru Rural and Mandya constituencies are crucial for him to stake a claim to the Chief Minister’s post.
Mr. Siddaramaiah has already spent several days now in the backward classes and Dalit-dominant Chamarajanagar and Mysuru constituencies to ensure the victory of Sunil Bose, son of his loyalist and Minister H.C. Mahadevappa, and M. Lakshman, who belongs to the Vokkaliga community, respectively. It was during this campaign that the Chief Minister stirred a controversy by saying “no one will be able to touch me” if the party gains a lead of at least 60,000 votes in Varuna, the constituency he represented in the Assembly, which comes under the Chamarajanagar constituency.
In the ‘lucky’ constituency
“Should I remain [as CM] or not? So, I request you with folded hands”, Mr. Siddaramaiah had said and added that Varuna was his “lucky” constituency. “In 2013, I won here and I became the Chief Minister. Last year, I won and I became CM for the second time.” Sources in the party claimed the pressure would mount on Mr. Siddaramaiah to leave the top job if the party does not fare well.
During his electioneering in Mandya, Mr. Shivakumar hinted at his ambition by saying, “Let me tell you... You had me in mind and gave the Congress the highest number of seats in Mandya in the Assembly election. Your wish will not go in vain. Don’t worry.” In the 2023 Assembly polls in Mandya, the Congress won seven out of eight constituencies, including Melkote, where party-backed Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha’s Darshan Puttannaiah won. It was read as an apparent support to Mr. Shivakumar as the Chief Minister. However, the party high command preferred Mr. Siddaramaiah to occupy the top post.
A few days ago, during the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed working presidents, Mr. Shivakumar said that “distribution of visiting cards is not enough. You have to work hard and discharge your responsibilities … otherwise you will become “former” soon after the Lok Sabha elections”.
Past instances
A few days after the 1980 Lok Sabha election results, D. Devaraj Urs resigned as Chief Minister after his party, Congress (U), failed to secure even a single seat in the polls. The Congress (I) bagged 27 while the Janata party one seat. Most of the Urs’ MLAs defected to the Congress (I) and Gundu Rao became the Chief Minister.
Again, soon after the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, then Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde dissolved the Assembly when the Janata Party secured just four seats out of the total 28. The Janata Party forced a snap poll and Hegde returned to power with a majority (139 seats) in the 1985 Assembly polls. In 2019, the JD(S)-Congress government collapsed after the alliance performed poorly by securing two seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
