The Siddaramaiah-DK Shivakumar battle in Karnataka – a squabble over the chief minister’s post that has rumbled on since the Congress’ 2023 election win – has been recast into a ‘Vokkaliga vs Ahinda‘ political face-off after a high-level meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence Thursday.
The attendees included senior leaders Satish Jarkiholi and G Parameshwara, each of whom has had a role to play in this drama. Parameshwara has become a dark horse candidate if neither Siddaramaiah nor DKS back down, and Jarkiholi, who is eyeing DKS’ state President post, a rallying point.
Details of that meeting were shared with NDTV.
The core agenda was to counter the ‘Vokkaliga chief minister’ narrative seen as gaining momentum, particularly after Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji, a noted religious leader from that community, publicly backed Shivakumar and praised his loyalty and long service to the party.
‘Loyalty’ and ‘long service to the Congress’ have also been raised by DKS’ supporters as they pile pressure on the party’s central leadership to swap Siddaramaiah for their man.
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