Will Shivakumar get a big birthday gift from Congress on Monday?

New Delhi: Karnataka Congress president Doddalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar, better known as DK, will turn 61 on Monday. He is among the contenders for the chief minister’s post in Karnataka after the Congress registered a resounding victory over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the just-concluded assembly elections in the southern state.

The other frontrunners are former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.  

Being one of the richest politicians in Karnataka, Shivakumar managed all the resources for his cash-poor party in the elections despite being under probe from multiple central agencies for his alleged money laundering, income tax evasion and disproportionate assets cases.  

In his election affidavit, Shivakumar declared total family assets of Rs 1,358 crore. He managed the finances in the hope that the Congress high command would reward him with the top post after the elections. 

Shivakumar maintained his winning streak from the Kanakapura seat in the Ramnagara district. This is his eighth straight victory from the seat. 

However, the big hurdle for him is Siddaramaiah who can arm-twist the Congress leadership and force it to agree to his candidature. He also has the support of many legislators and any move to deny him the post could jeopardise the Congress government in the state.  

Siddaramaiah has already claimed that this was his last election but then one cannot take everything a politician says at face value. On the other hand, Kharge’s appointment might create a fresh crisis in Congress as the grand old party will have to elect a new president, a cumbersome process in every aspect. It took five years for the Congress to zero in on Rahul Gandhi’s successor after he quit the post in May 2019 following the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections. 

If the Congress high command goes with Siddaramaiah, the big question is whether Shivakumar accepts that decision or will he revolt like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot.  

Shivakumar is a well-known Congress loyalist and has rejected all the overtures from the BJP in the past. He stood his ground and remained committed to the Congress ideology. It remains to be seen if he continues to do so if denied the chief minister’s post though time is on his side given that he is much younger than both Siddaramaiah and Kharge. 

During the campaigning, Shivakumar had promised Sonia Gandhi that he would deliver Karnataka to the Congress. On Saturday, he said the promise has been fulfilled and turned emotional as he recalled how Sonia Gandhi visited him in Tihar jail in 2020 when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case.  

That said, the Congress leadership will have to consider many other factors apart from loyalty before deciding on the next chief minister. All eyes are on the Congress high command now.