The Congress high command would do well to put an end to the perennial “game of thrones” being played out in Karnataka where talk of a change of chief minister is as routine as the sun rising in the east. What lends greater intrigue to the latest episode of the game is that the one speaking about change was the CM’s son Yathindra who said his father Siddaramiah was nearing the end of his career and then announcing his choice of successor in minister Satish Jakirholi.
For a CM already struggling to keep the state’s financial head above water, tending to complaints over the capital Bengaluru’s infrastructure woes that have become the butt of all jokes and memes and also inspired student campaigns about the number and size of potholes that school buses have to navigate every day, all this talk of his handing over the baton at the halfway mark cannot be reassuring.
Fending off talk of endemic corruption that has taken root in the state has also been one of the major tasks of the administration. But it has been hamstrung by the long tussle for leadership between Siddaramiah and the followers of the deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar who swear that a pact had been made when the Congress ministry was formed in May 2023 that there would be a change midterm and that the time of change is coming up in the month of November.
Karnataka, along with neighbouring Telangana, would rank as major states for the Congress where its ministries were supposed to demonstrate what makes the difference between them and the states governed by the BJP. The fact that a few companies have been forced to relocate away from the IT powerhouse Bengaluru may not have done the administration’s image any good.
The Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, belongs to the state, but the party has not said enough in solidarity with a leader who is being given the impression that he is beleaguered. It has also not said that there would be a change in leadership and DKS swears he is abiding by the book in toeing the party line even as the CM asserts he will complete his five-year term. But it is best that the people are kept in the know about any leadership change.
