Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The years-long leadership tussle between Karnataka’s newly sworn-in Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has officially ended. At least on paper. Popularly known as DKS, Shivakumar took oath as Karnataka CM on Wednesday, achieving what he had long coveted. But in politics, the contest for influence rarely ends with a transition of power, and early signs suggest that Siddaramaiah has not entirely relinquished his hold over the state’s power structure and might still be holding the cards in the game of the Karnataka throne.
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The clearest indication that it is Siddaramaiah who has all the cards lies in the composition of the new Cabinet, where the balance of ministers appears to reflect the outgoing Chief Minister’s continuing influence within the Congress and the government, even as Shivakumar formally assumes the top post.
Also bolstering that argument is Siddaramaiah’s elevation to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s high command, and his retention of the CM bungalow in Bengaluru. Together, these developments suggest that even after stepping down as Chief Minister, Siddu continues to wield considerable influence within the Congress and Karnataka politics.
At least 13 Congress MLAs took oath as Cabinet Ministers on Wednesday, along with Shivakumar. Among them, more than half a dozen leaders are recognised as MLAs who are backed by Karnataka’s longest-serving CM, Siddaramaiah.
Amid speculations that the Shivakumar government would have multiple Deputy CMs, former Home Minister G Parameshwara ultimately emerged as the sole leader to assume the post. Parameshwara is also considered to be close to Siddaramaiah. The Cabinet strength, now at 14, is expected to be expanded after the Rajya Sabha election on June 18.
The Karnataka Congress unit has two factions that dominate the party’s affairs. Both are led by the giants of the state, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
Interestingly, there is also a group of leaders who are moderate, and aren’t seen as belonging to any of the two camps.
KARNATAKA’s FIRST BATCH OF CABINET MINISTERS HAS MORE SIDDU LOYALISTS
After all the high-level meetings held in New Delhi on May 26 with the Congress brass regarding the power transition, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah had to travel back to the national capital on June 1 to finalise the list of the first batch of ministers who would take oath with the CM.
The Congress had announced that Shivakumar would take oath on June 3, and until late night of June 2, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah were in New Delhi, drafting the final list. The selection of ministers witnessed hectic parleys, as the Siddu and DKS factions pushed for greater representation in the Cabinet, sources told India Today TV.
Finally, the list of the first batch of ministers was released by the Congress on Wednesday morning, and amidst all the calculations of caste arithmetic and influence, the most apparent optics was that the list was dominated by the Siddaramaiah loyalists.
The other striking point of the announced Cabinet ministers is that there was no single MLA who could be considered explicitly from the DKS faction.
HOW MANY KARNATAKA MINISTERS ARE FROM SIDDU CAMP
Along with Shivakumar, 13 other Congress MLAs were sworn in to the Karnataka Cabinet.
The 13 ministers include Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra Siddaramaiah (MLC), who made his Cabinet debut. He was the only new minister to be inducted. The remaining ministers had held Cabinet berths under former CM Siddaramaiah (2023-2026).
The speaker during Siddaramaiah’s tenure, UT Khader, has also been inducted as minister into the newly formed Karnataka Cabinet.
A closer look at the line-up indicates that a significant portion of the Cabinet either belongs to Siddaramaiah’s camp or has historically been aligned with his politics and ideology.
The most prominent inclusion is Siddaramaiah’s son, Yathindra Siddaramaiah. His induction is the message that Siddaramaiah’s political legacy is not ending in Karnataka.
Several senior leaders widely regarded as being close to Siddaramaiah have also secured Cabinet berths. These include Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, KJ George, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Krishna Byregowda, Byrathi Suresh, and Sharan Prakash Patil.
Parameshwara, Jarakiholi, and MB Patil’s names have also been earlier floated by the Siddaramaiah faction MLAs as potential leaders if Siddaramaiah was to be replaced.
All of them, barring Yathindra, served as ministers during Siddaramaiah’s previous tenure and have maintained close political equations with him over the years.
The inclusion of Khader, who belongs to the Muslim community, also carries political significance beyond factional arithmetic. As the lone Congress MLA from Dakshina Kannada — a region considered a BJP bastion and often described as the ideological laboratory of Hindutva politics in Karnataka — Khader’s presence aligns with the Congress’s minority outreach strategy that Siddaramaiah has consistently championed. Khader has not been aligned with any of the factions and is seen as a moderate party loyalist.
The Cabinet ministers inducted on Wednesday, who aren’t part of the Siddu camp, are generally viewed as being closer to the Congress high command than to either of the opposing factions. This category includes Priyank Kharge, KH Muniyappa, Ramalinga Reddy, UT Khader, and Eshwar Khandre.
These leaders are often seen as Congress leadership loyalists or moderates who maintain working relationships with both camps.
However, even among this group, Priyank Kharge’s politics often mirrors Siddaramaiah’s ideological positioning. As one of the Congress’s most vocal critics of the BJP, Priyank, who is the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, has frequently championed issues associated with the AHINDA (minorities, backward classes, and Dalits) social coalition that forms the cornerstone of Siddaramaiah’s political strategy.
Taken together, the Cabinet composition of Karnataka suggests that while the leadership transition has formally handed power to Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah’s imprint on the government remains intact. The former CM may have vacated the top office, but the distribution of ministerial berths, retaining the CM bungalow, and getting inducted as a CWC member, indicates that he continues to command influence within Karnataka Congress and the new administration that is led by Shivakumar.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
