Grand plans for celebrating former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday on August 3 as ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ by his loyalists, at Davangere, seem to have further divided Congress workers on who the chief ministerial candidate should be for the 2023 Assembly elections.
Mr. Siddaramaiah’s loyalists are organising a mammoth public meeting in what is seen as an attempt to project him as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. The meeting is expected to mobilise voters belonging to the minority, OBC, and Dalit communities, which are seen as the primary beneficiaries of the ‘Bhagya’ welfare schemes implemented during Mr. Siddaramaiah’s tenure in 2013-18. Interestingly, sensing victory in the 2013 Assembly polls, Congress leaders had celebrated Mr. Siddaramaiah’s 65th birthday in a big way in Bengaluru in 2012.
In the backdrop of a few leaders quitting the party and many expressing displeasure on the functioning of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar, an aspirant for the top post, Mr. Siddaramaiah is expected to use the birthday platform to send a message to the party’s rank and file and high command on his popularity. The event would send clear signals to Mr. Shivakumar that side-lining leaders or denying party tickets to those loyal to Mr. Siddaramaiah could prove costly. This intent has not gone down well with those loyal to Mr. Shivakumar.
