In what is being seen as completely uncharacteristic of Congress leaders, three contenders in the party have officially declared that they are in the race for the Chief Minister’s post in Karnataka.
The Congress won 121 seats out of 223 for which elections were held on May 5, increasing its tally by 50 per cent from the previous elections. The BJP won a mere 40 seats compared with 110 they won during the last elections.
Political watchers say that this is perhaps the first time that Congress leaders in Karnataka have publicly stated their desire to head the Government. Those who have thrown in their hats include, Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge; Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivkumar. There are a couple of more aspirants but they don’t have the mass following as the first three enjoy.
There could have been a fourth and a strong contender in Parameshwara, the state president, but he lost to a JD-S candidate from the Korategere constituency in Tumkur district in south Karnataka.
Kharge,70, has been a Chief Minister in waiting since the days of S.M. Krishna who pipped him to the post in 1999. Kharge who hails from north Karnataka has won the Gurmitkal seat for a record 10 times continuously. He went on to win even the parliament elections from Gulbarga in 2009. Kharge was also a State party chief in 2004.
Considered a non-controversial leader from the Dalit community, Kharge has a clean image in the party and is well respected by the Opposition.
But the other contender, Siddharamaiah had a chequered career. He was elected for the first time on the Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket in 1983. He later joined the Janata Party and served as a minister in the Ramakrishna Hegde Government. He later joined the Janata Dal and served as a Deputy Chief Minister in 1996 and 2004.
He resigned from the JD-S in 2006 when H.D. Deve Gowda, the party president, started promoting H.D. Kumaraswamy as a chief ministerial candidate of the party. Siddaramaiah who hails from the backward Kuruba caste, won a tough contest from the Chamundeshwari constituency after he resigned his Assembly seat from the same constituency after he left JD-S.
But the Congress workers and leaders in the State see Siddaramaiah as an outsider. But over a period of time, he has been able to win over the state leaders and is now considered one of the major forces behind the victory of his party in 2013 elections. He stands the best chance of becoming the Chief Minister. D.K. Shivkumar, a Vokkaliga leader, was seen as a brash youth leader in the Congress. He was at one time considered a successor to S.M. Krishna in the Congress during its heydays between 1999-2004. But once B.S. Yeddyurappa became the Chief Minister after BJP’s victory last time, he was forced to take a back seat as he came under a cloud over some scandals.
It will take a lot more than diplomacy for the party High Command to pick the right man for the job and at the same time keep the state party united. All the three leaders have their own large following and one wrong move can completely undo the victory in the state elections.