Clearing the DKS for CM Post? Amid Vokkaliga Push, Camp Says Even Lingayats Prefer Shivakumar

Even as the race for the Karnataka CM post heats up, the Vokkaliga community is pushing for its tallest leader in the state, DK Shivakumar. The DKS camp is in no mood to settle for the post of deputy CM, a possibility being reported, according to sources.

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A crucial meeting of various Vokkaliga seers, including Adichunchungiri Swami and members of the Vokkaliga Sangha, will take place on Sunday afternoon to put pressure on the Congress for DKS.

Vokkaligas are agrarian and form the second most dominant community after Lingayats in Karnataka.

According to the DKS camp, Vokkaligas have en masse voted for the Congress after 25 years in the hopes of seeing DKS as the CM. The party has 29 newly elected Vokkaliga MLAs.

DKS supporters feel even the Lingayats prefer him over former CM Siddaramaiah, who they perceive as the man who tried to break the Lingayat community.

RAHUL, MLAs FOR SIDDA?

After whirlwind campaigns across the state ahead of polls, when the results came, Shivakumar broke down in front of television cameras. “I give credit to party cadres and all the leaders for the party’s victory. People have reposed faith in us and the leaders supported us. It is a collective leadership and we have worked jointly,” Shivakumar said, his voice choking.

“I had told Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge that we will deliver Karnataka,” he said.

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DKS funded several candidates this election and helped counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s might.

His camp claims Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will recognise DKS’s loyalty and sacrifice, while Rahul Gandhi could back Siddaramaiah.

The camp feels that in case the high command going for individual opinion of MLAs, Siddaramaiah may have the edge.

‘TRUSTED TROUBLE SHOOTER’

A trusted lieutenant of the Gandhi family, Shivakumar, an eight-time MLA, is considered a “trouble shooter” for the party. He was at the thick of things in Maharashtra in 2002 as the then Vilas Rao Deshmukh government won a no-confidence motion. He was also “instrumental” in ensuring the victory of late Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat in 2017 as he huddled the Congress MLAs in the western state in a resort, according to another party leader.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September 2018 registered a money laundering case against Shivakumar, A Hanumanthaiah, an employee at the Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and other people. The case was based on an Income Tax Department charge sheet filed against Shivakumar and others before a court in Bengaluru for alleged tax evasion and hawala dealings. He was arrested by the ED on September 3, 2019 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after an intense interrogation. He got bail on October 23, 2019.

Shivakumar is the third richest candidate in the fray in 2023 Karnataka assembly polls with assets worth Rs 1,413 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms has said in its report.

The strong Vokkaliga face continued his winning streak in Kanakapura, defeating senior BJP leader and Revenue Minister R Ashoka, a six-time MLA.

With PTI Inputs