Getting each of the claimants to the top post in the state to see each other’s strengths, focusing on the big picture of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a firm, but secret power-sharing deal, a call from Sonia Gandhi, and clear and consistent messaging from party president Mallikarjun Kharge may have helped the Congress party break the impasse over the selection of Karnataka next chief minister, several leaders familiar with the matter said.
According to the leaders, who asked not to be named, only Kharge and the three observers appointed by the party, Sushil Shinde, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria, know the number of legislators who wanted Siddaramaiah as chief minister, how many preferred DK Shivakumar, and those that picked a third candidate or left it to the high command.
And all through, the leaders said, Kharge was clear that this number would be a starting point, with other factors also mattering in the final choice.
In the end, Kharge chose Siddaramiah as chief minister. HT tried to put together a blow-by-blow account of how the decision came about — and how Shivakumar who seemed to have dug his heels in, may have been made to agree.
The numbers
“We only have an estimate that about 27 of us left the decision to the Congress President,’’ said one of the Congress’s victorious candidates in the state, adding that he believed there wasn’t “much of a difference between the two leaders”. After the legislature party meeting on Sunday, the observers sat with each of the 135 MLAs and noted their choice. Some MLAs took under a minute, while others expressed their concerns over several minutes. That meeting continued well into the night.
But even then, Kharge had already made it clear to everyone concerned that he preferred a consensus, said a second leader. “So, when Siddaramaiah said on TV that most MLAs were behind him on Monday, he was told off .”
After the Sunday meeting in Bengaluru, the activity shifted to Kharge’s residence at 10, Rajaji Marg. It helped that the Congress president knows the state, and helped even more that he was a chief ministerial candidate in 1992, 1999 and 2013, making way for Siddaramiah in the last. And, with the scale of the victory in mind, Kharge, the leaders cited in the first instance said, decided they would simply not allow groups pitching for a Dalit (he is one himself) or a Lingayat (the party has 35 Lingayat MLAs-in-waiting) have their say. The choice according to him, the leaders added, was between Siddaramiah, whose appeal cut across social groups, and Shivakumar, who is widely credited with having built the party organisation in the state for the last three years.
The pitches
In all, the leaders said, Kharge met with each of the claimants five times. Over the five meetings,they added, the two pitched their claims in a calm, methodical manner. Siddaramaiah said that he wanted to deliver the best possible result for the party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and that this was his last chance to do that as chief minister. He said that since Sonia Gandhi had picked him, an outsider from the JD(S) (he joined the Congress in 2006) as CM in 2013, he felt he could give back much more to the party with a decisive mandate he got this time. He also pointed out that Shivakumar at 61, had age on his side (Siddaramiah is 75). But Kharge and even Rahul Gandhi , the leaders said, told Siddaramiah that Shivakumar had built the party and fought for it, something the latter also emphasised in his pitch.
Power sharing
When the proposal of making him deputy chief minister was first aired, Shivakumar wasn’t moved. Indeed, power sharing did not work out for the Congress in either Rajasthan or Chattisgarh. The leaders cited in the first instance said Shivakumar insisted on a switch in two years; Siddaramaiah wanted one after three years. The final arrangement , according to two other Congress leaders is to have Shivakumar take over after 2.5 years, but with the condition that neither aspirant would talk about the deal outside. KC Venugopal is believed to have told both leaders that if they talked about it openly, it would undermine the CM. Officially, all that Venugopal said at the press conference was: “We will share the power with the people of Karnataka. Only that is there. Nothing else.” Actually, there is.
The final push
On Wednesday evening, it looked as if the negotiations would carry on for a few more days. Kharge wanted to wrap it up as soon as possible but Shivakumar’s brother, DK Suresh, an MP, and Shivakumar’s supporters were insistent on all or nothing. Kharge called a meeting with him at 11.30pm where Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala were present. Kharge reminded Shivakumar that he is “CM in waiting”, hailed his organisational capabilities and loyalty to the party, explained the rationale behind appointing Siddaramaiah, assured him that there would be no other deputy CM, and promised that the power sharing agreement, while not being made public, would be adhered to.
That, the leaders cited in the first instance said, made Shivakumar amenable, but it took a call from Sonia Gandhi to finally convince him. Kharge himself had been in touch with Sonia Gandhi, who is in Himachal Pradesh, since Monday, and she had left the final decision to him.
Shivakumar agreed around 1 am on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar called on Kharge before going to Bengaluru. “There was a much-awaited photo op but the three leaders also discussed the government formation and discussed some ministries,” said a leader.
The arrangement
There are loose ends to be tied up, the people admitted: whose supporters get maximum cabinet berths, who gets the key portfolios, and how two men with very different styles will get along. After all, things seemed resolved in Rajasthan and Chattissgarh — till suddenly, they weren’t.
According to the leaders, the two men have clearly been told that their focus should be on the Lok Sabha elections. Karnataka sends 28 members to the Lok Sabha, and last time, the Congress won one. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have been told that if the party doesn’t do well, both will be held accountable, they added.
