Within hours after BS Yeddyurappa resigned, a beaming Rahul Gandhi emerged in what was his first press conference since the party’s embarrassing performance in the Karnataka Assembly elections. The optics of the press conference is not lost on anyone — the Congress president had practically gone underground since the day of the party’s defeat, only to reemerge in New Delhi the moment things started to appear to go in Congress’ favour.
Back in Bangalore, for many of Congress’ young workers, the real hero in Congress’ victory — if you can call it that — is Doddalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar. One of the members of Indian Youth Congress, Karnataka, told Newslaundry that Shivakumar was the “sher [tiger]” of Karnataka. The chants and slogans in favour of Shivakumar easily beat those praising the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi.
“Dekho, dekho kaun aya, DK Shivkumar sher aya.” He’s ‘Karnataka Ka Sher,’ says one of the Congress worker to me. #KarnatakaFloorTest pic.twitter.com/L1Z4PhbyDI
— Manisha Pande (@MnshaP) May 19, 2018
Shivakumar was the Congress’ richest nominee (and now Member of Legislative Assembly) with declared assets of Rs 700 crore. The seven-time legislator — from Sathnur and later Kanakapura — lives in Bengaluru’s posh Sadashivanagar area and in the same neighbourhood as the late legendary Kannada actor, Rajkumar.
His younger brother DK Suresh represents Bengaluru Rural parliamentary constituency. Voters in Kanakpura “respect and fear” both brothers.
Of the two Bungalows on the plot in Sadashivanagar, one serves as “the office” where he meets those coming with pleas and applications, and the other serves as his home.
Right after the entrance of his home, a huge hall houses several glass cupboards with mementos in it, one of which includes a flag with the initials “DKS”. A testament perhaps to his ambitions in the Congress party and indeed Karnataka.
A Congress loyalist, he has been accused in several cases that include land grab, corruption and illegal granite mining. It’s no surprise, then, that the High Command chose him to fight the Reddy-Yeddy duo — the money and muscle he possessed was seen as an able counter to the mining czar lobby in Bharatiya Janata Party.
Right from May 15, the Congress leader had sprung into action, taking charge of managing the newly-elected legislators and ensuring their “safety”. A senior leader of the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) told Newslaundry, “While two-three JDS leaders were managing 38 JDS MLAs, the Congress high command had given the charge of 78 legislators to Shivakumar.”
He added, that Shivakumar was “in charge” when it came to logistical decisions like arranging resorts and transportation.
The first manoeuvring involved the roping in of two independent candidates – R Shankar and H Nagesh – in favour of the Congress party. On the evening of May 15, Shivakumar brought them in. A day later, when Yeddyurappa went to meet Governor Vajubhai Vala, Shankar was spotted with the BJP camp. Within hours, the BJP was left red-faced when Shankar returned to the Congress party.
Speaking about the kind of pressure being put on the Congress party and its legislators, state-in-charge and AICC general secretary, KC Venugopal told Newslaundry, “There was a kind of unimaginable pressure on our legislators. They were using the money, power and agencies to destabilise the democratic process.”
Venugopal credited three state leaders for yesterday’s success. “It was a joint effort. Siddaramaiah [former Chief Minister] played a role, G Parameshwar [KPCC president] played a role, and Shivakumar played a role.”
“This crisis has aggravated his [Shivakumar’s] strength, his honesty and his commitment to the party,” KPCC vice-president E Radhakrishnan told Newslaundry. “Many top functionaries of the BJP, the government officers have tried to intimidate him, but with every such attack, he has emerged as a hero.”
According to Radhakrishnan, the Kanakapura legislator’s role in this episode was not limited to the mere arrangement of “logistics”.
“Shivakumar managed the ideological front too, he convinced the MLAs – who were being lured under the instruction of Amit Shah. He managed to keep these MLAs with the party by convincing them to forgo the materialistic preferences. We salute him,” the KPCC vice-president said. He further added that Shivakumar was “one of the persons to cobble the alliance with the JDS.”
Keeping Congress’ flock together is, of course, not something new for Shivakumar. In June 2002, he had taken care of Maharashtra Congress legislators and had successfully saved the late Vilasrao Deshmukh’s government. He kept 40 Congress legislators in “safe custody at Golden Palms Resorts ensuring a victory for the Congress-NCP alliance in the floor test.
More recently, Shivakumar has outsmarted BJP’s Chanakya, Amit Shah, twice. When Ahmed Patel had almost-lost his Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat in 2017, Shivakumar emerged as the saviour. And, in 2018, when the party needed him the most, the 55-year-old legislator put up a successful show which the BJP’s state, as well as the central leadership together, failed to thwart.
Interestingly, Shivakumar had played a crucial role in defeating Janata Dal (Secular) chief ministerial candidate HD Kumaraswamy in the Lok Sabha elections from Kanakapura in 1998. In 2004, he played a role in defeating his father and former PM HD Gowda from the same constituency. However, in 2018, Kumaraswamy owes much to DKS.
A senior JDS leader, however, said: “Even though he shares a better bond with Kumaraswamy when compared to Siddaramaiah, it is highly unlikely that he could be appointed as the Dy CM.” He further added that KPCC president Parameshwar remains the top contender for the post. “JDS-Congress cannot afford to appoint Vokkaligas as CM and Dy CM both.” Shivakumar belongs to Vokkaliga community.
In conversation with Newslaundry, before the polling, Shivakumar was candid about his aspirations of becoming the chief minister of the state. But he maintained that he had “enough time” and that the party will give him what he wants. After yesterday’s events, that is the one thing Shivakumar can bank on.
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