Karnataka Power Transfer Row Heats Up As CM Siddaramaiah Asserts Full-Term Tenure

Bengaluru: The issue of power transfer in Karnataka, where it is rumoured that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has to Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in November is hotting up with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserting that he would continue to be chief minister for full term and followers echoing his statement.

At the same time, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also KPCC President has just warned party personnel against talking about power transfer and has issued notices to his followers, who tried to bat in his favor, but remained silent over Siddaramaiah's supporters' rants.

Even the warning of AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala against issuing any media statement over power transfer has not deterred the Siddaramaiah camp, who continue to issue statements after statements.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah has received support from an unexpected quarter with a group of Lingayat Mutt seers throwing their weight behind him to continue as the Chief Minister. D K Shivakumar, who is heavily dependent on the party high command to get to the coveted post has chosen to play it safe by remaining silent over the issue.

The issue started rolling out during Dasara celebration itself, when Siddaramaiah said that he would be the chief minister for the complete term. He said that he was happy to inaugurate Dasara as a Chief Minister and he would continue to do it next year also. This irked D K Shivakumar supporters, who were expecting leadership change in November, which is termed as `November Revolution' in Karnataka political circle. Kunigal MLA Dr Ranganath openly said that Shivakumar would become Chief Minister during this term itself.

Shivakumar, who did not want a controversy, issued a stern warning to party people against speaking on power transfer. He also issued a notice to Dr Ranganath. Even before Dr Ranganath could reply to the notice, Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan said that Siddaramaiah would reshuffle the cabinet in November and complete this term as the Chief Minister. There is nothing called 'November Revolution', he said.

Next day, Randeep Surjewala, who visited Bengaluru spoke to Zameer Ahmed Khan against issuing such statements. Zameer came out and said that he wanted even D K Shivakumar to become Chief Minister, but Siddaramaiah would complete this term.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister's Economic Advisor Basavaraj Rayaraddy went one step ahead and said that the legislators had voted Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister for five years and there is no change in the stand. ``Just because some people want D K Shivakumar to become Chief Minister, it can not be done. Even few people want me to become Chief Minister and I am as senior as D K Shivakumar in the Assembly. Even I got elected for the first time in 1985,'' he said.

On Monday, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre joined the bandwagon and said that there was no proposal for leadership change in the party or the government. ``Siddaramaiah will complete the term as Chief Minister and there is no second opinion on this within the party. It is just media creation,'' he added.

Siddaramaiah, who was lying low on the leadership change issue was silently working on other lines. For a long time, the Lingayats were cut off from the Congress and during the recent cry for separate `Lingayat Religion', he supported the cause. He also worked closely with Large Industries Minister M B Patil, who was in favor of the `Veerashaiva - Lingayat' religion concept. By supporting this movement, the Congress has managed to divide the Lingayat community, which strongly rallied behind BJP, vertically. While the powerful Panchamashali Lingayats still stayed back with BJP, the other smaller groups, which form a substantial chunk of Lingayat community, have started moving towards Congress. Besides, the move by Siddaramaiah to recommend the Central Government to change the name of Bengaluru Metro from Namma Metro to Basava Metro has further made an impression and seers of over 301 such small mutts are not rallying behind Siddaramaiah.

The developments have definitely dented the confidence of D K Shivakumar, who is cautiously watching, without resorting to any reckless actions. At the moment, his last hope is party high command, which has recognised his long standing service to the party, but pleading helpless against machiavellian Siddaramaiah's game plans.