DC Edit | Congress Douses Crisis in Karnataka, For Now
The push for change in the top post may have been propelled by anxiety over the next Assembly elections in the state, but the high command’s decisions and its choice of top leadership have invariably been thrust upon states.

A brewing crisis of confidence in the chief minister of Karnataka has been papered over by the Congress Party. Siddaramaiah will continue in his chair while hoping to beat in January 2026 the record of Devraj Urs as the longest serving CM of the state even as his deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, toes the party line in acquiescing to the high command’s desire to not rock the boat now.
National political parties of the family dynastic and non-family variety in the world’s most populous country are not known to encourage internal democracy. That tradition of the high command taking all decisions has run longest in the national Congress which now rules in the three states of Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh.
It was known that a majority of 135 MLAs, elected under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, who came over from the JD(S), and Shivakumar, had been plumping for a change at the top with the deputy CM DKS to take over. They are known to have expressed the feeling that re-election three years from now might be a challenge because of the image of corruption around the government having built up to a large extent.
When cornered over the allotment of government plots in his wife’s name, the CM had nonchalantly offered to give the land back and this was accepted as if nothing had taken place in favoured distribution of government property. However, Siddaramaiah’s personal predicament at that time was only a tip of the iceberg, if the opinion of some Congress MLAs is to be believed.
The push for change in the top post may have been propelled by anxiety over the next Assembly elections in the state, but the high command’s decisions and its choice of top leadership have invariably been thrust upon states. The stronger the party leader, the lesser the freedom in the ranks of the Congress Party, which at various times had had to deal with the problem of dissidents gaining voice.
In fact, it was ironic that the Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also from Karnataka and is to be considered a member of the high command privy to its decision making, should say that the high command would decide. Maybe, he should have said that the “highest command” would decide.
The Congress representative, sent to handle the issue of a body of opinion building up against the incumbent, was to say his job was only to take stock of the work of MLAs in the state. But then, as far as hierarchical structures go in national parties, these envoys have little voice in such issues if the high command has already taken the call.
With earlier reports of power-sharing by rotation between the two being discounted, Siddaramaiah, a leader from the backward classes, stays rewarded for heading the drive to bring the Congress back to power in 2023 in a large southern state — at least for now. He might still be a long shot when it comes to leading the campaign for re-election in the state as his deputy DKS, as KPCC chief, heads the party wing.