‘Game of Thrones’ in Karnataka: While Congress denies there is any competition between Siddaramiah and DK Shivakumar for CM post, the statements from local MLAs show utter confusion
In Karnataka, the ‘game of thrones’ is intensifying even as Chief Minister Siddaramiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar deny any competition for the CM post. Despite the Congress high command’s diktat not to issue conflicting public statements, the party leaders are failing to hold back from taking sides.
Congress MLAs are taking sides between Siddaramiah and DK Shivakumar
On the 13th of July 2025, Karnataka minister KN Rajanna said that CM Siddaramiah will continue as Chief Minister for the entire tenure. He also suggested that neither the party high command nor the MLAs are ready for a change in leadership.
“Yes, Siddaramaiah will be Chief Minister for five years. If change is there, only the high command and MLAs can do it. I think both are not ready to change now,” he said.
Asserting that it would be premature to say would be the party’s face in the state for the 2028 election cycle, Rajanna said, “Can anyone do an election without him (Siddaramaiah) in the Congress party? 2028 MLAs will decide who will be the Chief Minister. It won’t be decided now. All leaders, including Siddaramaiah, must be included for the next election. MLAs will then decide.”
Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Mandya, Ravi Kumar Gowda, seems to have sided with DK Shivakumar as he said the deputy CM deserves to be the Chief Minister, and when the time is right, he will definitely become the CM.
“DK Shivakumar will become Chief Minister when the time comes. 138 MLAs support both DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. When the time is right, DK Shivakumar too will become Chief Minister. When time and circumstance align, good things will happen. He definitely deserves to become Chief Minister, and he will become Chief Minister,” Gowda said.
Similarly, Congress MLA Tanveer Sait not only hinted at a possible change in leadership but also backed DK Shivakumar. “I feel leadership can’t be stagnant. New leadership has to come and grow. Whenever the opportunity is given, it’ll happen. But individual giving out statements shouldn’t be considered as a protest,” Sait said.
Congress MLA CP Yogeshwar from Channapatna has also voiced his support for Shivakumar as Karnataka CM and said, “All our district MLAs are united that DK should become Chief Minister. There are no discrepancies about it. High command should decide on it.”
Interestingly, Congress MLA HA Iqbal Hussain was recently served a notice by the party high command for making a public statement about the likelihood of DK Shivakumar becoming Chief Minister.
Hussain boldly claimed that “nearly 100 legislators” backed Shivakumar for the top post, arguing the deputy CM deserved his chance after tireless efforts to rebuild the party.
Earlier this month, CM Siddaramiah had said that he would serve his full five-year term. However, DK Shivakumar’s response to this sparked speculations of a power tussle ongoing within the party.
“Party will take its call at the right time. I don’t want to discuss anything on that. It is not an issue to be discussed in the media first. Our job is to bring the party back to power in 2028,” Shivakumar said.
The speculations about a possible change in leadership were fuelled further when Siddaramiah held a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Thursday (10th July). Siddaramiah is also reported to have requested a meeting with party ‘prince’ Rahul Gandhi; however, the latter denied an audience, although Gandhi did meet Congress leaders from Gujarat.
Siddaramiah’s appointment to a national panel of OBC leaders fanned speculations that the Congress party is paving the way for DK Shivakumar to become Chief Minister. However, it seems that Siddaramiah is not willing to give up his ‘throne’.
Reports citing Congress inside chatter say that Siddaramiah is likely to remain in power till early 2026, making him the longest-serving CM with a tenure of seven years and 2 months, surpassing Devaraj Arasu.
Interestingly, while the JD(S) MLAs who left the party and moved to Congress twenty years back have been loyal to Siddaramiah and want him to complete the five-year term. But DK Shivakumar, who is credited with having played a key role in bringing Congress back in power in the state, is not ready to relinquish his claim to power.
It is also worth noting that on one hand, Randeep Surjewala, who is Congress’s in-charge for Karnataka, is holding individual meetings with Congress MLAs in Karnataka to get an idea of the Chief Minister’s governance, much to Siddaramiah’s disappointment, on the other hand, Rahul Gandhi reportedly avoided meeting him.
While the Congress’s top leadership, both in Karnataka and New Delhi, is denying any discussion on leadership change in the recent meetings, the BJP has said that a horse-trading bid is ongoing behind the curtains.
BJP leader and Union Minister Prahlad Joshi has said that CM Siddaramiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar are engaged in “horse trading” to mobilise support of the party MLAs through “money and power”.
“Horses are ready for sale in the market, and buyers are also ready. I want to make it clear that earlier, we were short of 9 seats, and we were the single largest party. The mandate was with us. Now they have a mandate and should run the government without any problem. The Congress High Command is weak. Now, the situation is such that the one who gets MLA support will be the CM. Hence, both DCM DK Shivakumar and CM Siddaramaiah are involved in the trading of horses,” the BJP leader said.
Siddaramiah loyalists reportedly want to remove DK Shivakumar from the KPCC president post
Meanwhile, Siddaramiah loyalists are also reportedly trying to get DK Shivakumar removed from the post of KPCC president ahead of local body elections. Shivakumar was made KPCC chief in 2020, and after Congress won the assembly election in 2023, he was supposed to step down from the post of KPCC president after one year, as he became deputy CM. However, Shivakumar has held the position till now, apparently to ensure his control within the party.
CM Siddaramiah is reported to have suggested changing the KPCC president, arguing that a new leader for the party would better bolster the party during elections.
While Congress leaders like Priyank Kharge have cautioned party leaders from issuing individual public statements on leadership change and claimed that there is no discussion on this within the party, the fact that Congress MLAs are publicly taking sides between Siddaramiah and Shivakumar, it is evident that the smoke is not without fire.
Apparently, days after saying “What option do I have?”, DK Shivakumar has invoked the 2023 power-sharing compromise. It, however, remains to be seen whether Siddaramiah will be able to convince the party high command to let him continue as Chief Minister or Shivakumar will win his claim to the ‘chair’.
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