Karnataka Politics: Rajdeep Sardesai Decodes Options for DK Shivakumar, Congress High Command Meet

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]How much can they push it any further Raj if it doesn't happen let's say in the next one month then a cabinet reshuffle may be the need of the hour in which case DK shukumar's chances are gone you know he's his aids as they've told you are right in saying it's now or never it's do or die for DK Shivkumar and his CM ambitions right up till 2028 you mentioned also the possibility of a rebellious DKS what do you mean by that Raj is the option for DKS very much there of him perhaps switching over going to the BJP Well, first the window that I see at best is till the Rajya Sabha elections are over on the 18th of June and the MLC elections are over. After that we go into the after that Karnataka will look at the municipal elections particularly the greater Bangalore authority election that have been long delayed which are expected in August. If at all there has to be a leadership change it has to happen before the end of June. If there is no leadership change by the end of June, then I think it's clear that the high command does not want to effect any change till the 2028 election. What I meant when I said that DK Shivkumar could turn rebellious. There are those who believe that DK Shifkumar does have a channel open at some stage or the other to the BJP. Remember we've seen the BJP with the likes of him biswa Sharma and Asam Suven Adiari in West Bengal not hesitating to take on disgruntled discontented voices from the other side particularly of course we've seen it with the Congress there was a you know there have been many chief ministers who are former congressmen now DK Shepkumar may not be assured chief ministership by by the BJP but the BJP could well say that look you know if you join us we will ensure that you one of our tallest leaders. It also means he gets access to the center. He's one of those politicians who had has had a series of ED cases also against him. We know how the opposition alleges washing machine politics being practiced by the BJP. So DK Shukumar at the moment may not have the kind of MLAs to break the party like an Aknat Shindai could with the Shiva but he has some options and those options could reflect within the next year. So the Congress has to be very careful that while they may not want to take a decision instantaneously, they do not want to be seen to alienate DK Shivkumar. Now how do you do that?

[00:02:17]What is the compromise formula that you can arrive at? All kinds of theories that DK Suresh Shiffkumar's brother could be made a Rajya Sabha member some of his loyalists will be made ministers.

[00:02:27]When I asked this to Mr. Shikumar yesterday, he said all of this is speculation. None of this is absolutely true. I am going with an open mind uh to this meeting. Now what does an open mind mean? My sense is he is determined this time to say look you had promised 2 and 1/2 years 2 and 1/2 years it's now almost 3 years I need my moment in the sun. So I think he's going into this meeting with that kind of mindset now or never.

[00:02:54]>> Let me take this back across uh to 2023 Rajep. The question that's constantly asked is was there a deal or not of two and a half years formula for chief minister? DK Shu Kumar says yes. Sidra Maya says no. What exactly happened? Was there some written agreement? Was there any oral verbal agreement that DKHumar will get the post?

[00:03:16]>> Axita, none of these things are in writing. Whether it was in Rajasthan between Sachin pilot and Ashok gay whether it was in Chhattisgarh between bupesh bagel and ts sing where there were even greater indications of a 2 and a half year deal none of it was in writing dto the case with karnataka it is true there was a meeting held at Malikarjun kh's residence where appandandy Casey Benual and Randep surjala were present where this assurance was made to DK Shivkumar DK Shivkumar supporters go a step further and say Sonia Gandhi had also blessed this arrangement which is when DK shipkumar relented We are also told that Priyanka Gandhi Vatra has also put her uh has also endorsed the possibility of DK Shifkumar being given chief ministership. So there is some kind of an informal unwritten agreement but in politics that means very little. The fact is that Mr. Sidaraya at the time certainly had the support of a majority of the MLAs. Now how do you then respond to the changing situation in 2026?

[00:04:15]We just saw in uh in Karnataka sorry in Kerala Vidi Satishan did not necessarily have the support of the majority of the MLS but there was a popular move that he should be the choice because he had taken the campaign into the opposition uh camp during the elections. Now DK Shikumar supporters are saying the same thing about their leader saying he's been the Congress president since 2020 in Karnataka. He's the one who organized the campaign in 2022. Mr. Sidaraya may have the right cast credentials may be seen as a mass leader but at the end of the day the Congress needs a organizational resourceful political manager which DK shifumar is. So we you know it it just depends who you speak to in Karnataka and it reflects the wider problem of the Congress. There was a time when Congress could manage these factions very smoothly. But being out of power in Delhi, Axita has reduced the options the Congress has which is one reason every few months this battle is taken to Delhi and it's creating a general sense of drift within the government. You don't have a cabinet reshuffle and there's uncertainty over who becomes uh Raj but you know at the end of the day in Karnataka the last few months you haven't seen any open rebellion. Yes, there's a lot of murmurss. There's a lot of power flexes, but no open rebellion either by Sidraaya or by DK Shukkumar.

[00:05:35]They've kind of constantly tried to have communication with the high command, but that's about it. So, in that sense, at least the Congress has controlled what's happened in Karnataka without an all-out rebellion so far.

[00:05:46]>> Well, that's partly true, but that's also because there were elections. uh DK Shukumar was one of those in charge of what was happening in Assam and he was promised his supporters claim that once the elections are over then your concerns will be addressed and he was asked not to speak out about his chief ministerial ambitions or also asked to re in his supporters which he has done.

[00:06:07]So his argument is I've done everything that the high command wanted to uh wanted me to do. What will the high command now do for me? You see earlier it was a very asymmetrical power equation between the high command and regional leaders of the congress. The high command control the show particularly in the Indra Gandhi era and we are going back a long way. They could dictate terms to regional leaders. Now as we've seen with Satishan you can stand up and almost confront the high command through your supporters and win the race. Now DK Shipkumar is wondering that if that could happen with Satishan should I be reigned in in Karnataka or should I express my discontent more openly. So far he has chosen to be fair to him not to step out of line. But if today he's again denied the prize of chief ministership who knows what he does tomorrow.

[00:06:56]>> He's been very patient. You're right.

[00:06:58]The question is will he continue to be patient because if he doesn't manage to convince the high command this time around it doesn't look like it's possible right up until 2028 and DK Shukumar now is getting impatient we will track what happens let's see if there's a decision in the next 24 hours Rajep you sense they won't be my sense is that they will try and buy a little bit more time possibly till the Rajya Sabha elections on the 18th of June uh but with the Congress I command you never know the very Fact that both the leaders have been called to Delhi suggests that we are in the final stage of of working out some kind of a compromise formula. What that formula is is the big mystery at the moment. My sense is that the Congress would want to end this sooner rather than later. But do they really have a formula to end it?

[00:07:46]And if they don't have one, then I think they will try and buy some more time.

[00:07:50]>> Okay. Thanks very much Raj Dave for joining us uh this morning with what you sense could happen in the Karnataka Game of Thrones. Look, we're counting on this being the climax of the Karnataka political thriller because this has gone on long enough and for the Congress high command in all likelihood now they will take their final decision or exactly which way they want to go whether they'll choose Sidraaya or DK Shivkumar.

[00:08:12]Meeting, by the way, is currently underway.