Shivakumar Siddaramaiah: Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar: Double engine that powered Congress quest in Karnataka

(This story initially appeared in on May 14, 2023)

One is a former CM prepping for a final hurrah, the opposite a confirmed troubleshooter ready for his second in the solar. In Siddaramaiah and D Ok Shivakumar, the dual talismans of a well-known Congress comeback in Karnataka, the grand outdated celebration has two disparate personalities that have taken numerous paths to a typical purpose.

A teary-eyed Shivakumar, 61, declared Saturday after his eighth consecutive ballot victory that he had promised to “ship Karnataka” to the Gandhis and was relieved to have carried out so in the face of many odds. “I can not neglect Sonia Gandhi coming to fulfill me in jail,” he mentioned, stamping his popularity as an unabashed loyalist of Congress’s first household.

Unlike DKS, who has all the time been with Congress, not solely is 75-year-old Siddaramaiah a late entrant into the celebration, his detractors inside the rank and file nonetheless see him as an outsider and seem uncomfortable along with his bluntness. What goes in the veteran’s favour is his expertise, each as CM and state finance minister, and a clear picture.

Born right into a Kuruba (shepherd group) household at Siddaramanahundi in Mysuru district, Siddaramaiah began his political profession in Bharatiya Lok Dal in 1983, when he turned an MLA for the primary time. He has been profitable meeting polls from Mysuru district since, barring 1989 and 1999.

As the mandate for Congress’s return turned clear on Saturday, Siddaramaiah’s physician son Yathindra made no secret of who can be the only option for CM. “In the curiosity of Karnataka, my father ought to grow to be CM,” ANI quoted Yathindra, who gave up the Varuna seat for his father, as saying. “As a resident of the state, his final stint (2013-18) noticed good governance. This time too, if he turns into CM, the corruption and misrule of BJP can be corrected.”

Siddaramaiah, a legislation graduate who additionally taught for some time in hometown Mysuru, held varied portfolios as minister in erstwhile Janata Dal governments headed by Ramakrishna Hegde, HD Deve Gowda and JH Patel.

Siddaramaiah joined Congress 17 years in the past after political variations along with his mentor and former PM Deve Gowda led to him being ousted from JD(S). The origins of the rift lay in the fractured verdict two years earlier than his exit, when Congress and JD(S) had fashioned a coalition authorities and Siddaramaiah needed to accept the put up of deputy CM. Siddaramaiah by no means forgave Deve Gowda, who he thought scuttled his prospects of turning into CM. His subsequent sacking was seen as Deve Gowda making house for his son HD Kumaraswamy.As finance minister, Siddaramaiah offered 13 state budgets. Since the collapse of the final JD (S)-Congress authorities, he had been the chief of the opposition.

DKS, Congress’s different contender for the CM’s put up, took over as PCC president at a time the celebration was affected by low morale and lack of initiative. He got here with impeccable credentials, having first proven his troubleshooting expertise in 2002, when he stored the Congress flock collectively throughout a no-trust transfer in opposition to then Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh.

In 2017, when Congress’s Ahmed Patel fought then BJP chief Amit Shah for a Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat, it was once more Shivakumar who hosted 44 celebration MLAs. Patel received the seat.

As a younger man, Shivakumar used to run a video parlour whereas working his manner via the ranks as a pupil chief earlier than graduating to the massive league. In 1985, he challenged Deve Gowda in Sathanur and misplaced. He challenged the JD(S) founder once more in 1989 at Kanakapura, solely to style defeat a second time. In 1999, he defeated Deve Gowda’s inheritor Kumaraswamy in Sathanur, beginning what has been a dream run since.

In 2018, Shivakumar put aside his variations to work with Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy and kind the Congress-JD(S) authorities.