With the calendar inching past the 2.5-year mark of the Karnataka government’s tenure, the familiar buzz of “power-sharing” has returned to the state’s political corridors.
On Friday, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar attempted to douse the rising chatter, saying he was neither seeking the chief minister’s chair nor rushing the Congress high command for any decision.
“I don't want anything. I am not hurrying anything. My party will make the decision. I don't want any community angle. Congress is my community, and my love is for all sections of society,” he said while facing a barrage of questions from reporters, as quoted by ANI.
His comments come amid speculation fuelled on socials from both him and Siddaramaiah, and the timing just after the government crossed its halfway tenure on November 20.
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“I will definitely go to Delhi. It is our temple. Congress has a long history, and Delhi will always guide us,” Shivakumar clarified, adding that the purpose of the visit was to raise Karnataka’s pending issues ahead of Parliament’s Winter Session. He also plans to meet MPs to push for stalled state projects.
Shivakumar’s post on X earlier in the week sparked a political firestorm
Widely interpreted as a reminder to the party about the reported “2.5-year each” power-sharing promise, the post was direct and philosophical.
“Keeping one's word is the greatest strength in the world! Be it a judge, president or anyone else, including myself, everyone has to walk the talk. Word power is World power,” he wrote.
The Congress, however, has never officially acknowledged any such arrangement. Shivakumar himself had previously hinted at a “secret deal,” but never elaborated.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, posted only hours after Shivakumar’s remark, and said, “The mandate given by the people of Karnataka is not a moment, but a responsibility that lasts five full years,” he wrote, highlighting both his work record and his intent to stay on.
“A Word is not power unless it betters the World for the people. Our Word to Karnataka is not a slogan, it means the World to us.”
