Karnataka Congress: How peacefully will the dispute over the new leader be resolved and how long will this peace last?

The Congress is now badly haunted by the fear that Karnataka may witness a similar war of words between Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan. However, it is very likely that the name of the leader who will sit on the post of Chief Minister of Karnataka will be announced on Wednesday. A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party has also been called on the same day. There are indications that party president Mallikarjun Kharge is going to announce the name of the new leader in this meeting.

Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are contenders for the post of CM in Karnataka. The picture is of May 13, when party president Mallikarjun Kharge was waiting.

By the way, instead of DK Shivakumar, the name of Siddaramaiah is doing the rounds as the new CM in Karnataka. Certainly the Congress would have decided this name, but if the process of ten years ago is followed then the matter can be reversed. In fact, ten years ago in 2013, the Congress had won the elections with 122 seats.

Even then there was a similar competition for the post of Chief Minister as it is today. On one hand, there was Siddaramaiah, who had joined the Congress from JDS only seven years ago, and on the other, senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who had been serving the party since its inception. A meeting of legislators was called to decide the new leader. In this meeting, the name did not come from Delhi, rather the process of deciding the name through secret voting of the MLAs was adopted.

Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar is now the new troubleshooter of Congress. In this election, the Congress could win 135 seats in Karnataka, so the biggest face behind it is Shivakumar. Since the declaration of results on 13th May, only they have been discussed. He is being called ‘Man of the Karnataka’.

The result was shocking. Siddaramaiah got more votes than Mallikarjun Kharge and became the Chief Minister of Karnataka. If secret voting is held this time, there is a possibility of Shivkumar getting a upper hand over Siddha. However, it seems that the name is already finalized and only a formal announcement is left.

Both Siddha and Shivkumar do not agree on the formula of Fifty-Fifty. If Siddha is made the CM, then maybe if not now, at least after some time, Shivkumar will surely raise his voice. The problem of the Congress is that it wants to protect its victory in a big state after a long time from any kind of controversy.

Mallikarjun Kharge showed his solidarity with Congress leaders in Bengaluru after the election results were out on 13 May.

When the leader is not announced before the election, then such problems often come in most of the parties. Such indecisiveness is seen not only in the Congress, but also in the BJP. Although no voice of protest emerges in the BJP, but within the leaders, mutual enmity does emerge. It remains to be seen how peacefully this issue of Karnataka is dealt with and for how long will this peace last?