As Congress Celebrates, Rumblings Of Siddaramaiah vs DK Shivakumar

In the Congress's victory celebrations in Karnataka, the only downer is the looming Siddaramaiah versus DK Shivakumar tussle for the chief minister's job.

The two leaders will address a joint press conference this evening.

Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are the Congress's top leaders in Karnataka, one a former chief minister and the other, the state Congress chief. Neither has been coy about their chief ministerial ambition.

Mr Shivakumar, 61, broke down as he spoke about delivering on a promise to the Gandhis. He also said he had not slept for three years, ever since he made the promise.

"I assured Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge that I will deliver Karnataka. I can't forget Sonia Gandhi coming to meet me in jail," said the emotional Congress leader.

On who would be Chief Minister, he said: "The Congress office is our temple. We will decide our next step at the Congress office."

Mr Shivakumar has been the congress's troubleshooter for years.

One of the wealthiest politicians in Karnataka, "DKS" rose to prominence in 2019 when he tried - but failed - to salvage the Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government, which collapsed after the mass defection of MLAs from both parties.

Unlike Siddaramaiah, Mr Shivakumar has always been a Congressman, and has not lost a single election since his first electoral victory in 1989.

Mr Shivakumar is facing several corruption cases and even spent time in Delhi's Tihar Jail before being granted bail. There was much speculation about the timing of the investigation and raids against the Congress leader in 2017, when he was "guarding" Congress MLAs from Gujarat ahead of Rajya Sabha polls in the state.

Siddaramaiah, 75, has repeatedly said this is his last electoral contest, hoping, perhaps, that the Congress will consider this while making its choice.

For his critics in the Congress, Siddaramaiah is still the "outsider", an import from another party.

"It's a big victory for the Congress party. The people of Karnataka wanted change. This is a mandate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Siddaramaiah said.

His son Yathindra Siddaramaiah said his father should be chief minister "for the sake of Karnataka".

"We will do anything to keep the BJP out of power. In the interest of Karnataka, my father should become Chief Minister," Yathindra Siddaramaiah told news agency ANI.

"As a son, definitely I would like to see him as a chief minister. But as a resident of the state, his last regime saw good governance. This time also, if he becomes Chief Minister, the corruption and misrule of the BJP rule will be corrected by him. In the interest of the State also, he should become Chief Minister," said Siddaramaiah junior.

An NDTV survey during the election campaign revealed that Siddaramaiah was the most popular choice for the next Karnataka Chief Minister

Mr Siddaramaiah was first elected to the Karnataka assembly in 1983. In 1994, Siddaramaiah became Deputy Chief Minister of the state as part of a Janata Dal government. Ten years later, in 2004, he was part of a Janata Dal (Secular) government, until he was expelled from the party after a falling out with its leader HD Deve Gowda.

Two years later, in 2008, Siddaramaiah joined the Congress and became Chief Minister after the 2013 Karnataka polls.

During the campaign for this election, Siddaramaiah had to extricate himself from a bit of a hole after talking about "a corrupt Lingayat Chief Minister", and tried to explain that he was talking about the current chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, and not insulting the electorally important Lingayat community.

Both Siddaramaiah and Mr Shivakumar are powerful leaders with a strong support base, perhaps the reason why the Congress has not named a presumptive chief minister. Their rivalry is set to challenge the Congress in the coming days.