KARNATAKA LEADERSHIP SHIFT

Congress is unable to assess whether changing the State Chief Minister will help, or hurt, the party's prospects

- ANITA SALUJA

With Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shiva Kumar finally realizing his political dream of assuming charge of the State, the ruling Congress finds itself in a dilemma.

The Congress is unable to assess whether changing the State Chief Minister will help, or hurt, the party's electoral prospects, in the run up to the next Assembly elections in 2028.

Prolonged political wrangling had cast a shadow on governance in the State. In the intense bickering between Siddaramaiah and D K Shiva Kumar, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge fancied the prospect of his emerging as a compromise candidate for Chief Minister, the one post that always eluded him. Choice of Kharge could have meant not only the first Dalit Chief Minister of Karnataka, but 39 per cent (SCs and STs 25 per cent, Muslims 14 per cent) consolidation behind the Congress. The Congress High Command decision has left both Kharge and Siddaramaiah disappointed.

For the past one month, at least, Shiva Kumar was making constant trips to Delhi, meeting with senior party leaders. His only demand was to honour the word given to him that after two-and-a-half years, he would succeed Siddaramaiah. The created a climate of political uncertainty in the State.