D K Shivakumar gains importance in State, courtesy High Command

It is definitely a point in favour of Energy Minister D K Shivakumar that he has emerged a stronger person after the Gujarat election result, IT raid and its aftermath.  However, it is a little early to predict if the importance he has gained will be converted into alternate leadership to CM Siddaramaiah or to become the second in command in the Party in State or even to get a significant role in seat allotment in the forthcoming elections, reported Kannada Prabha.

However, one can predict that D K Shivakumar will definitely make use of his recent importance to the best of his capabilities. He has acknowledged that he arrived from Doddaalalli village in Kanakapura to Bengaluru to make a space for himself in politics and when he arrived he was not a dud.

Hence, he will definitely make the best of efforts to gain more importance with High Command, what with his efforts in making Ahmed Patel win in Gujarat and AICC president Sonia Gandhi acknowledging it.  The question is, will there be a change in the equation of leadership in State Congress? Currently both Siddaramaiah and Mallikarjuna Kharge have a strong hold on the State Party.  

Dr G Parameshwar beating D K Shivakumar to become the KPCC president is definitely the result of both Siddaramaiah and Kharge playing their hands into it.  The current Party scenario has not yet given D K Shivakumar as much significance as over taking both Siddaramaiah and Kharge.  The Congress High Command also is not in a position to elevate D K Shivakumar and bring down Siddaramaiah and Kharge.

More over, D K Shivakumar himself is not chasing any of this because, KPCC president’s post had already been taken over by Dr Parameshwar and there are no other posts that he can aspire to occupy. The Home Ministry is for the grabs but Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is in no mood to hand it over to D K Shivakumar. The Congress High Command will not insist on pressurising the Chief Minister to give it to D K Shivakumar, when the elections are just round the corner, say sources.

It is interesting to see if Siddaramaiah will utilise the opportunity to project D K Shivakumar as the alternate leader.  In recent times Siddaramaiah gained so much power in the State and with High Command that the dissidents were in real confusion as to who they could approach with their complaints against him.  There was such a dearth for leadership in Congress.   Shivakumar enhancing his stature and CM continuously denying him every post that he wished is seen as an opportunity for dissidents to consider D K Shivakumar as the alternate leader. It is for this reason that leaders like Jafar Sharif and Satish Jarkiholi are openly supporting Shivakumar.

However, it is not yet clear if D K Shivakumar himself want to project himself as an alternate leader. Sources say that he considers himself as CM material.  For that to materialise he has to see that his supporters get tickets and win.  In the previous election also he tried to get tickets for his supporters, like Ravindra Srikantaiah in Srirangapatna, Hanumanthe Gowda in Rajarajeshwari Nagara, Rajagopala Reddy from Bengaluru South etc. but failed.  

He may take all precaution this time not to fail.  Hence, there are all chances that D K Shivakumar will make his best efforts to acquire as much importance in the Party as Siddaramaiah, Kharge and Dr Parameshwar.

Meanwhile, D K Shivakumar has said that the eclipse that had fogged the Congress Party has cleared now and that he has satisfactorily fulfilled the duties entrusted to him during Gujarat elections. However he has claimed he has no desire for any post.  He said he wants to conduct his duties as Energy Minister efficiently and not give opportunity to get a name that Karnataka is in the dark.

He said his service in the Gujarat elections is miniscule and that the entire nation watched how Gujarat elections were held and how Operation Lotus was tried but the Gujarat MLAs did not give in to pressure. BJP losing in Gujarat where Prime Minister Modi was the chief minister has scared BJP and that fear will spread all over the country, he said. D K Shivakumar was full of praise for the Election Commission for their role in Gujarat elections and said the EC will teach lessons to all Parties.

• DKS gains significance
• Will he emerge as alternate leader?
• DK Shivakumar
• Karnataka