Karnataka: Siddaramaiah's Detractors Are Trying to Unseat Him

The Congress in Karnataka is a divided house with factions led by Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, and to an extent, Kharge

When Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah arrives in New Delhi on Tuesday, keeping the programme official to meet Union ministers, calling on the Congress high command will be at the top of his agenda. He will outline the two major issues that provided strong ammunition for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) to disrupt the proceedings of the recently concluded monsoon legislative session.

In both issues, Siddaramaiah was targeted by the Opposition, who held him responsible for the scams. In the siphoning of Rs 87 crore from the Karnataka Maharishi Valmiki Development Corporation into fake accounts, the BJP has claimed that such an incident could not have occurred without the knowledge of Siddaramaiah, the Finance Minister. The other issue involves allegations that Siddaramaiah's spouse, Parvathi, benefited from fraudulent plot allocations by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

In his four-decade-long political career, Siddaramaiah is among the handful of lawmakers in Karnataka who have functioned with an unblemished record. Hence, these allegations have put the chief minister on the back foot.

The only other time Siddaramaiah was in a spot was in 2016 when Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy ridiculed him for claiming to be a socialist while sporting a Rs 70 lakh diamond-studded Hublot brand watch. Siddaramaiah addressed the controversy by stating that the watch in question was a gift from a Dubai-based cardiac surgeon friend. To resolve the issue, he declared it as a state asset by depositing it with the Assembly secretariat.

Both controversies have created a buzz in political circles about how these are moves to unseat Siddaramaiah, who has become the chief minister for the second time. Kumaraswamy, a former CM, pointed fingers at Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, an aspirant for the CM's post, for orchestrating the exposure of the MUDA scam.

An astute politician, who has held posts of the Deputy Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition apart from the record of presenting 15 state budgets, Siddaramaiah turned the tables on the Opposition's charges of nepotism in the site allotment controversy with a press conference on 26 July. Releasing documentary evidence to prove that the site allotments were not illegal, a list of other beneficiaries was shared, which included Kumaraswamy, JD(S) leaders GT Deve Gowda and SR Mahesh and BJP MLC AH Vishwanath among others.

Though the State Congress leadership put up a show of unity and won 135 Assembly seats in 2023, the fact remains the party is a divided house with factions led by Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, and to an extent AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge. There are unconfirmed reports of a power-sharing formula agreed when Siddaramaiah was made the CM— he will make way for Shivakumar after some months. The debate resumed after the Lok Sabha elections with the Congress winning only nine of the 28 seats.

While Siddaramaiah's followers have been demanding that three more deputy chief ministers be seen as a plan to keep Shivakumar in check and counter his influence in the government and party, some seers have also stepped into the picture. In June, Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami, who heads the Vishwa Vokkaligara Mahasamsthana mutt, publicly implored Siddaramaiah to step down. “Our DK Shivakumar hasn't become Chief Minister yet. Siddaramaiah has already been in power. In the future, Siddaramaiah should hand over power to Shivakumar,” he added.

Two days later, Veerashaiva-Lingayat, seer Channasiddharam Swami of Srishail Peetham said if the Congress decides to change Siddaramaiah or appoint more deputy chief ministers, preference should be given to his community.

To counter all these campaigns, Siddaramaiah's followers are planning to hold an Ahinda (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) rally in Hubballi, on or around August 12, which happens to be his birthday. Siddaramaiah has repeatedly used the Ahinda as a weapon to consolidate his position. In 2022, “Siddaramothsava” was held in Davanagere on 12 August ahead of the Assembly which was attended by five lakh people, and helped him prove himself as an Ahinda leader. In 2005, he was expelled from the JD(S) for participating in Ahinda activities, which became a springboard for him to be the pioneer of the backward classes.

For the unversed, Siddaramaiah's wife was allotted 14 sites in Mysuru as MUDA acquired her 3.16 acres of land without her consent and formed plots. The land was gifted to Parvathi by her brother, BM Mallikarjuna Swamy, in 2010 and 2014. When she realised MUDA had illegally acquired her land, she petitioned for alternate sites as compensation. At a news conference, Siddaramaiah said, “I told my wife that as long as I am the CM, the application will not be entertained. I also informed MUDA not to consider it.”

During the BJP's tenure in 2021, Parvathi petitioned MUDA once again, when she was allotted 14 sites under the authority's 50:50 formula wherein 50 percent of the developed sites will be given freely to the original landowner. After coming to power in May 2023, the Congress government scrapped the rule.

A judicial inquiry has been ordered. On the BJP's contention that Parvathi's brother had bought the 3.16 acre of land in violation of the Karnataka Land Grants Act (applicable to Dalits where the land is inalienable), the documents revealed that one Ninga, son of Jawara had purchased it for Rs 3 in an auction in 1935.

“My life is an open book and each page is marked by transparency and honesty. I have maintained the sanctity of politics without a black spot. The BJP and JD(S) cannot tolerate me seeing as the CM for the second time,'' Siddaramaiah said. He has offered to return the sites provided MUDA pays Rs 67 crore, the sites’ value.

With the BJP and JD(S) front bench leaders devoting the entire legislature session to the sites and swindling of funds issues, the BJP was slammed by one of its senior Scheduled Castes leaders and former MLA Aravind Limbavalli on the microblogging social media platform X. Limbavali represented Mahadevapura, a reserved constituency in Bengaluru, from 2008 to 2018. In 2023, the ticket was given to his wife Manjula Limbavalli, who won.

In a post on 26 July, Limbavalli said his party, which was supposed to be the voice of the people by pointing out the failures of the state government, has failed in doing it as an opposition party. “It is regrettable that there has been no harmony and understanding between our party president (BY Vijayendra), who is also an MLA and leader of the opposition (R Ashoka). This has helped the ruling party to take complete advantage,” he said.

“Dengue is rampant in many districts, including Bengaluru, which is known as the IT-BT capital and is a model for the country in the field of science. In many districts of the state, lakhs of people have lost their households due to heavy rains and floods. It is unfortunate that our party leaders did not feel that they should shed light on this and represent the sufferings of people of the state,” Limbavalli said.

(Naheed Ataulla is a senior political journalist based in Bengaluru. This is an opinion article and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)