The appointment of Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah as a member of an advisory council of Congress's OBC department has drawn a unique prediction from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
The BJP has claimed that the appointment was a bid by the Congress to draw the Chief Minister to Delhi and resolve the power crisis in Karnataka. Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly, said this was the same playbook that the Congress had deployed when Mallikarjun Kharge, an influential leader from Karnataka, had staked claim to chief ministership.
As per the BJP, Kharge, who was appointed Congress president, had been reduced to a "rubber stamp" and that it was Siddaramaiah's turn now.
"In 2013, they made the same strategy to pull Kharge to Delhi and put him in a shed. Now he is in a shed. He is the president but he is saying the high command (will decide). Then what are you? a rubber stamp president. It is Siddaramaiah's turn now; they want to send him to shed now. Will they make him Prime Minister? No, there is no chance because the Congress is a sinking ship," Narayanaswamy told NDTV.
Notably, Siddaramaiah claimed he was unaware of his appointment to the All India Backward Class Advisory Committee and would speak to the party high command about it. Asked if he would take up the responsibility, Siddaramaiah said he wasn't one to run away from any duty assigned to the party, but dismissed speculation that it was linked to his shift to national politics.
"Should I run away when the responsibility is given to me? I had not sought this role and had no clue. The party high command has announced it. I will speak to them," Siddaramaiah said.
On June 9, Congress's OBC panel chief Anil Jaihind wrote a letter to party president Kharge seeking his approval to 24 names proposed for the advisory council of the party's OBC department. The list, which included the Congress veterans Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, also had Siddaramaiah's name on it.
The development, which comes in the backdrop of Siddaramaiah's power tussle with Deputy CM and state Congress president DK Shivakumar, has raised several eyebrows with many anticipating it as the end of road for the incumbent CM.
"I think the intent is to induct Siddaramaiah into national politics and make him vacate the Chief Minister's post. The development appears sudden," Union Minister and key BJP leader in Karnataka Pralhad Joshi said.
The Congress has, however, dismissed speculations of Siddaramaiah making his way to national politics to clear the road for Shivakumar's ascent to chief ministership, a position he has sought and aspired since the Congress' victory in the Assembly elections in 2023.
The development also comes amid an intensifying unrest within the Karnataka Congress over the past couple of weeks after some MLAs close to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar demanded a change in Chief Ministership. The Congress high command, however, indicated it has no such plan and barred Congress leaders from speaking on the issue in public.
Senior party leader and troubleshooter MP Randeep Singh Surjewala was dispatched to Bengaluru to quell the unrest. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar appeared in public later to put up a united front. Siddaramaiah had later claimed that he would remain the Karnataka Chief Minister for a full term of five years, virtually dismissing any possibility of a leadership change in line with the rotational formula worked out by the high command following the 2023 electoral verdict
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