- People closely following the fortunes of the political churnings in Karnataka would have felt exasperated, wriggling hands in frustration for the way the ruling dispensation in the state, the Congress party, was handling the leadership situation in the last couple of years. Ever since the Grand Old Party was elected with a resounding majority by the electorate of the state, the talks about a power sharing between the two tallest leaders, viz. Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar were making rounds incessantly, though the brass kept mentioning that no such arrangement existed. Mind you, DK Shivakumar was the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee under whose stewardship the party made a tremendous comeback by winning more than 135 seats.
PC: Mint
- Of course, the five guarantee schemes announced during the campaigning made a huge contribution in impressing upon the state’s populace. Due credit should accrue to the state government for implementing the five guarantee schemes, even though huge budgetary allocations had to be provisioned to ensure the same starts rolling. Indeed, the state’s revenue generation and budgetary allocation had taken a hit since the mobilization of finance had to be ensured from available sources for the schemes. Amid these populist highpoints, what was gaining more prominence was the talk of tacit power-sharing agreements that definitely had a bearing on the functioning and/or non-functioning of the government at various levels.
PC: Moneycontrol.com
- It was an open secret that the two leaders and their supporters never allowed the issue of power-sharing of the Chief Ministership to take a backseat. Both leaders at various forums did stick to one point, though. That they would follow whatever the high command asked of them. As you read this, all that has been in the past, even as the incumbent CM Siddaramaiah resigned from the post of CM. Expectedly, the Congress Legislature Party has chosen DK Shivakumar as their leader, paving the way for the Kanakapura strongman to assume the mantle of CM. With this, the long-cherished dream of the leader has come to fruition. The moot point to ponder over here is whether the newly elected CM would be fulfilling the expectations unhinged.
PC: NDTV
- Siddaramaiah, the tallest backward class leader in the state with sizeable support from the MLAs/leaders/people, has indicated in no uncertain terms that he would be actively involved in the state politics. He has also shown disinclination to move to national politics as requested by the high command. As such, the new CM would be required to play a great maneuvering and balancing act, taking along the labyrinthine caste equations as well as demographic representations. It would be interesting to note the composition of the new cabinet under the new dispensation. With the leadership matter settled, the people of the state would fervently hope that the development works will receive a much-needed fillip sooner than later.
