Siddaramaiah Vs DK Shivakumar: Will There Be Changes In Karnataka Congress' Top Leadership?

A dinner earlien in the month led to speculation over the power dynamics within the ruling Congress party, specifically between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar. While Shivakumar was in Turkiye with his family to ring in the new year, public works minister Satish Jharkiholi hosted what he described as an “apolitical” dinner. The gathering was attended by Siddaramaiah, along with some cabinet ministers from the scheduled castes. Satish, the oldest of the four Jharkiholi brothers who hold strong influence in both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, is known for his opposition to D.K. Shivakumar. In Belagavi, Shivakumar loyalist and women and child welfare minister Laxmi Hebbalkar is a rival to the Jharkiholi brothers, further strengthening the fault lines within the state Congress leadership.