Shivakumar takes charge as Karnataka CM
Former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and State Congress President DK Shivakumar on Wednesday took oath as Chief Minister along with 13 other legislators, including senior leader G Parameshwara, who were sworn in as ministers to the State Cabinet.
Shivakumar took oath in the name of seer “Gangadhar Ajja”, while holding a copy of the Constitution in the presence of AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and outgoing CM Siddaramaiah.
Along with Shivakumar and Parameshwara, the legislators, who took oath as ministers were — KH Muniyappa, KJ George, MB Patil, Ramalinga Reddy, Satish Jarkiholi, Krishna Byregowda, Priyank Kharge, UT Khader, Eshwar Khandre, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Byrathi Suresh and Sharan Prakash Patil.
Barring Khader and Yathindra, all the others were ministers in the previous Siddaramaiah Government. Khader had been the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Yathindra, a member of the legislative council, is Siddaramaiah’s son.
Shivakumar, a 64-year-old Vokkaliga strongman, was elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party on May 30, following Siddaramaiah’s resignation as the chief minister on May 28. Shivakumar had served as deputy chief minister under Siddaramaiah.
AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, CMs of Congress ruled states, several top Congress leaders, dignitaries, and invitees were present at the swearing-in. Religious leaders from all major communities were also present.
According to officials, the invitees included students from a Government school in Doddaalahalli in Kanakapura, which is Shivakumar’s native village. Representatives from various sections of society, including labourers, civic workers, farmer leaders, women self-help groups, and pro-Kannada organisations took part.
Rahul congratulated Shivakumar and the new council of ministers in Karnataka, saying people’s trust in the Congress remains its greatest responsibility. The guarantees of Congress remain the foundations for governance and commitment to social justice, he said, assuring people that they will deliver. He also thanked former chief minister Siddaramaiah for his leadership and service, which “strengthened Karnataka and improved millions of lives”.
The first challenge of Shivakumar has to carefully address cabinet formation and portfolio allocation. In the new cabinet, he will have to strike a balance by ensuring representation while keeping caste equations, regions, and Siddaramaiah loyalists in mind.
Keeping the AHINDA vote bank with Congress will be one of the key tasks for the Vokkaliga strongman Shivakumar, now that Siddaramaiah has stepped down as chief minister.
The strong consolidation of AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) votes in favour of Congress, with Siddaramaiah considered a strong proponent of these communities at the helm, helped Congress come to power in 2023. Their support remains crucial for the party in future polls.
To manage this, Shivakumar must work by taking Siddaramaiah and his supporters into confidence while also continuing to remain on good terms with dominant communities.
Shivakumar will have to ensure that the other numerically large dominant community in the state, the Veerashiva-Lingayats’ spread over large parts of north Karnataka and in some pockets of the south’ are not antagonised by any of his decisions. The test of how Shivakumar will manage various communities will come when the report on the social and educational survey, popularly known as the “caste census,” is out.
Various communities, especially the dominant Lingayats and Vokkaligas had strong objections to the earlier survey report and Shivakumar himself had expressed reservations.
