File photo of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar at a Youth Congress Programme
By Shankar Raj*
Bengaluru: The three political parties in Karnataka – the Congress Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Janata Dal (Secular) – may find the ground rocking after the Lok Sabha elections. The parties are looking forward to the results and have already started chalking out plans.
Among these parties, the first party that can expect a major change would be the Congress. If the party fares badly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah may find his seat shaky and his deputy DK Shivakumar may stake claim to the chair.
DKS, as Shivakumar is popularly known, has perceptibly been eyeing the chair for quite some time and when he took over as deputy CM, it was speculated that he would become CM after two and a half years.
There is already a buzz in the Congress over a change of guard that will grow as both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will claim credit for success if the party fares well. If the party loses, they are likely to blame each other. A section of Congress functionaries even expects a cabinet rejig as many are waiting for an opportunity.
“It is all speculation. Congress will win hands down as people across the state have acknowledged the success of our guarantee schemes. While the government remains stable, our party will emerge stronger after the elections,” said BS Shivanna, KPCC general secretary.
The BJP may also face turmoil. Senior functionary KS Eshwarappa has already suggested that state party president BY Vijayendra, son of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, will have to step down if the party performs poorly.
Conversely, Vijayendra’s stature as party chief and a Lingayat leader will grow if BJP wins more than 20 of the 28 seats in the state. The party won 25 seats in 2019 and is now aiming to win all 28. But insiders say that bagging 20 would be considered good considering that the party got almost wiped out in the Assembly elections.
“Yediyurappa has taken it upon himself to ensure victory and the party leadership has reposed hope in him and made his son state president. Now, the onus is on them to deliver. However, the way they selected candidates has caused a lot of heartburn,” said former minister JC Madhuswamy, who is sulking after being denied the ticket from Tumkur.
Results are more critical for JD(S) which will face an existential crisis if it loses. Good results will revive the regional outfit since the possibility of HD Kumaraswamy getting a cabinet berth in the Union government is strong.
“It is true that these Lok Sabha polls are a do-or-die battle for us,” said KA Thippeswamy, JD(S) poll campaign convener. “We have a responsibility not just to ensure victory in the seats we contest, but also in key seats like Bangalore Rural, Mysore, Chikkaballapur, Raichur and Bijapur where BJP will contest. We are confident of winning all these seats.”
*Shankar Raj is a former editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
