Scindia effect: Shivakumar named Karnataka Cong chief

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 11

The exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia today jolted the Congress out of inertia with party president Sonia Gandhi approving the key appointment of Karnataka party chief, which had been pending for weeks.

Shivakumar, the seven-time party MLA and the incumbent legislator from Kanakpura, is a prominent Vokkaliga leader of Congress in the state and was vying for the state presidency with MB Patil, the former Home Minister of the state and a loyalist of former CM Siddharamaiah.

Gandhi did a balancing act today by retaining Siddharamaiah as the Congress Legislature Party chief and agreeing to his suggestion of appointing three working presidents — Eashwar Khandre, Satish Jharkiholi and Saleem Ahammed.

Enforcement Directorate arrested Shivakumar last September in an alleged money laundering case. He spent over 50 days in jail before being let out on bail by the Delhi High Court.

The appointment of Shivakumar is significant as the Congress hopes to consolidate the Vokkaligas, the second largest community in Karnataka at a time when the most prominent section, the Lingayats have broadly been supporting the BJP.

Shivakumar had placed himself at loggerheads with former CM Siddharamaiah when he apologised for the latter’s pre-state election proposal of a separate Lingayat religion. The move had boomeranged politically with the Lingayats accusing the Congress of trying to divide them. In this struggle, MB Patil had backed Siddharamaiah. The former CM had so far been supporting Patil’s case for Karnataka state unit president.

Sonia Gandhi had more of less signaled her mind about Karnataka when she visited Shivakumar in Tihar Jail last year in October assuring her of complete party support.