In a battle of perception as well as prestige in their respective traditional political bastions, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been crisscrossing the Lok Sabha constituencies of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, while his deputy D.K. Shivakumar is aggressively campaigning in Bengaluru Rural and Mandya, roping in leaders of the Opposition into the Congress to boost their electoral advantage over the rival alliance of BJP-JD(S).
As the mercury rises in the election campaign, the one-upmanship between the two top Congress leaders also seems to be resurfacing, with both stoking the issue in their respective bastions of possible change of leadership in the State government after the election results.
The term of Mr. Shivakumar, who has been the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for the last four years, is expected to end after the Lok Sabha elections. Victories on his Vokkaliga-dominated home turf of Bengaluru Rural and Mandya constituencies are crucial for him to stake a claim to the Chief Minister’s post.
