Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress is facing a piquant situation. Whomever the party high command announces the chief minister of the state, trouble awaits the grand old party as it would upset either AHINDA or Veerashaiva Vokkaliga communities.
If the Congress anoints Siddaramaiah as the chief minister, it will anger the Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities as powerful seers of respective mutts have rallied behind Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar and appealed to party high command to anoint him as the chief minister.
Vokkaliga seers argue that their community shifted their allegiance from the JDS and voted to the Congress enmasse, and hence Shivakumar should be given the top post.
On the other hand, the Kurbara Sangha also has appealed to the Congress high command to make Siddaramaiah the chief minister as he belongs to Kuruba (shepherd) community.
If the Congress appoints Shivakumar as the chief minister, it will anger AHINDA communities, which is a larger community than Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities. And at this stage, when the Lok Sabha is scheduled for next year, the Congress top brass would not like to disappoint a large number of AHINDA populace, and could anoint Siddaramaiah as the chief minister.
Moreover Sidddaramaiah enjoys support of a large number of legislators who are laying claim for his chief ministry. On the contrary, Shivakumar himself is agreeing that he does not have magical numbers, but he has single-handedly toiled hard to bring the party to power with a thumping majority.
He told reporters that when Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundurao resigned from state party unit’s top positions, he came forward and accepted the responsibility to lead the party from the front and assured Sonia Gandhi to deliver Karnataka, which he did, and rightful hopes for the reward bestowed upon him.
Adding to the woes of the Congress to meet demands on caste lines, it is now faced with demands on communal lines. The Karnataka Waqf Board has urged the Congress high command to make one Muslim Deputy Chief Minister and five ministers with portfolios of home, education and revenue.
In an interaction with the media, Waqf Board Chief Shafi Sadi said the Muslim community was a major factor that helped Congress register its thumping majority in at least 72 constituencies, and it is time for the party to reward them in return.
If the Waqf Board’s demands, which are pretty unreasonable, are not met, Muslims will be highly disappointed with the Congress.
So, interesting days are ahead in Karnataka politics. It remains to be seen how the new chief minister handles these vexed situations, but one thing is nobody can deny that instability has dogged the Congress even before the announcement of the new chief minister and formation of the government.
