Give or take

The power-sharing pact in Karnataka cannot be conveniently forgotten now

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

THE “SECRET” POWER-SHARING agreement brokered by the Congress high command between Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar after the 2023 assembly polls is no longer a secret. In fact, the state might see a new chief minister as early as June.

Siddaramaiah's recent statement that the high command would take a call on whether to replace the chief minister gave credence to the rotational chief minister theory. It was also a clear departure from his earlier statements, dismissing any such arrangement, and his repeated assertion that he would stay a full five years.

The deal was struck when, after the party won in the state, lengthy deliberations reached a dead end with neither Siddaramaiah nor Shivakumar agreeing to opt out of the chief ministerial race. In the last two years, the 50-50 power-sharing pact has often stirred intrigue. While Siddaramaiah loyalists have maintained the rotational formula was a creation of the media, even Shivakumar had played down the existence of a pact. But, in a recent interview, Shivakumar said there was a “power-sharing agreement” and he would become chief minister at the appropriate time.

Interestingly, the last two months have seen open demands from Congress leaders for a change of guard in both the government and the party (Shivakumar is also the state party president). A third faction has been lobbying for a Dalit chief minister or party state president. A dinner meeting hosted by Public Works Department Minister Satish Jarkiholi, attended by Siddaramaiah but not Shivakumar, the leaders' frequent Delhi trips and another dinner planned by Home Minister G. Parameshwara, but called off at the last minute following the high command's intervention, all show that Siddaramaiah is in no mood to pass the baton, according to Shivakumar loyalists.