By M. A. Siraj
Bengaluru: Taking a cue from Scindia episode in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress High Command appointed the strongman D. K. Shivakumar as the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) last week. Popularly known as ‘DKS’, Shivakumar had been staking claim to the top post within the Party’s state unit since long. Belonging to the powerful Vokkaliga community, DKS is seen as the ‘man for the moment’ for a highly debilitated party in Karnataka. The Congress has however retained Mr. Siddramaiah as the Opposition leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Legislative Assembly where the Party has as a strength of 62 in the 224-member House.
Defeat in byelections
DKS had been eyeing the top post for long. But the opportunity knocked at him only recently after the party suffered a humiliating defeat in the byelections for the 15 seats held on December 5 last year. The byelections were necessitated after the Congress-JDS Government collapsed soon after the BJP’s sweeping victory in the Lok Sabha General Elections in May 2019. The BJP bagged 25 of the 28 seats from the State, leaving just one for the Congress, one for the JDS and another one for an independent candidate. The only Congressman to reach the Lok Sabha from the State was DKS’s younger brother D. K. Suresh who won from the Bangalore rural constituency.
Following byelection defeat, KPCC president Mr. Dinesh Gundu Rao and CLP leader Siddramaiah had submitted their resignations to the Party President. The party organization remained in a limbo for nearly three months as the High Command neither accepted the resignations, nor appointed new heads. However, it moved swiftly and appointed DKS as the KPCC President soon after the revolt in the party in Madhya Pradesh following exit of long time leader Jyotiraditya Scindia from the party.
DKS is known for his aggressive style of leadership. He was the man who hosted 17 Congress MLAs from Gujarat in a Bangalore resort on the eve of Ahmad Patel’s election for the Rajya Sabha in 2017. Amid fears of poaching from the BJP which had planned to scuttle Patel from reaching the Rajya Sabha, the Congress had moved its MLAs to safe havens elsewhere.
DKS is considered to be one of the richest Congressmen with stakes in mining of limestone and quarry business, mostly around Bangalore. His election time affidavit had shown him to be possessing assets worth Rs. 840 crore. Several of his businesses were targeted for raids by the Enforcement Directorate soon after the Lok Sabha election last year. DKS was arrested and detained at the Tihar jail for nearly three months and was released on a bail by the Supreme Court in October last year. He was received by a mammoth crowd and taken out in a massive procession over the 35-km long route from the Bangalore International Airport to the City. His brother and MP D. K. Suresh was the organizer of the show.
A man known for action, DKS is seen as the perfect challenger against the BJP in the State. A member of the powerful Vokkaliga community which has a high concentration in the districts of the southern Karnataka, he is seen to be the man who would revive the Party’s sagging morale in the traditional heartland of the Congress Party which has largely been breached by the JDS and lately the BJP. It is useful to be reminded that he kick-started his career by defeating H. D. Devegowda in the Assembly election from Sathanur constituency. He was only 27 then. Ten years later he defeated Devegowda’s son H. D. Kumaraswamy from the same constituency. Since then he has been known as ‘the giant killer’. Currently, he represents Kanakapura Assembly seat. He has been a minister under several chief ministers. He was Minister for Irrigation in the Congress-JDS Ministry led by H. D. Kumaraswamy from May 2019 till August 2020.
A man known for his ability to quickly mobilize crowds, DKS is seen as a leader required to galvanise a moribund organization. While the BJP has its major votebank among the Lingayath community with its concentration in northern districts of the State, it has been gradually penetrating into the bastion of the Vokkaligas in southern parts known as Old Mysore State where Congress and the JDS have been alternately favoured by the electorate.
High Command appoints three vice presidents
The High Command has also appointed three vice presidents for the Party organization. They are Eshwar Khandre, Satish Jarkiholi and Saleem Ahmed. Khandre is from the powerful Lingayath community. Satish Jarkiholi comes from the Nayaka or Valmiki community categorized under the Scheduled Tribes. Significantly, coming as he does from a family of sugar barons, has also two more brother as MLAs in the current Assembly. Saleem Ahmed has risen as a youth leader and had been MLC for several tenures.
With a youthful leader at the helms, Congress hopes to revive itself in Karnataka. However it remains to be seen if top post for DKS also translates into a chief ministerial hopeful within the party for the next elections, which are anyway three years away.