Bengaluru: In democracy, the Opposition will always find issues to gun for the ruling party.
However, in Karnataka right now, the party in power is engaged in in-fighting.
The Congress versus Congress tussle in the southern state has been accentuated further as ministers have been accusing each other of corruption, threatening to resign over lack of funds and taking digs at their own leadership.
The chasm in the party created by the differences between chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar – known as DKS — from the very beginning are widening with every passing day.
Siddaramaiah is under serious pressure, with at least four senior Congress MLAs raising serious questions about corruption and governance failures.
Congress MLA Basavaraj Shivaganga was the latest to voice support for DKS as the state’s next chief minister.
“What is written in fate, we don’t know. We’ll talk about this after December. If our leader becomes the chief minister, it’s as good as me becoming one. Let’s discuss this again after December,” Shivaganga said, suggesting a possible shift in power towards the end of the year.
A day earlier, another Congress MLA Iqbal Hussain publicly backed Shivakumar for the top post.
Hussain said on Monday that Shivakumar would “definitely become chief minister, 200%.” He swore “on God Mahadevappa” that the Congress will secure over 140 seats in the next Assembly election and form the government under Shivakumar’s leadership.
Siddaramaiah’s loyalists tried damage control.
Congress MLC Nagaraj Yadav questioned the timing and authority behind Hussain’s claims.
“What do you mean next time? The chief minister now is Siddaramaiah. No one knows what the high command will decide. DK Shivakumar has contributed a lot, but so has Siddaramaiah,” he said.
