Congress’ Man Friday D.K. Shivakumar to be Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, to continue as KPCC president

After four-days of hectic parleys in the national capital, the eight-time MLA and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar, has reluctantly accepted the post of the Deputy Chief Minister, at the instance of former AICC president Sonia Gandhi. He will also continue as the president of the KPCC until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

After four-days of hectic parleys in the national capital, the eight-time MLA and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar, has reluctantly accepted the post of the Deputy Chief Minister, at the instance of former AICC president Sonia Gandhi. He will also continue as the president of the KPCC until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Shivakumar — who celebrated his 62 nd birthday on Monday — led the party from the front in Karnataka since he assumed office in July 2020 and is seen as a key person in the magnificent victory of the party with 135 seats. Aided by a team of poll experts, he launched a sustained campaign against the Basavaraj Bommai-led “40% Sarakara‘‘ of the BJP while highlighting the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress.

It is believed that the Vokkaliga community, to which Mr. Shivakumar belongs, rallied around him, thereby resulting in the poor show of the JD(S) in the Old Mysuru region as well as the election of a huge chunk of MLAs from the community.

Mr. Shivakumar is often referred to as “Kanakapura Bande” (rock of Kanakapura) in sections of the media for his adamant, never-say-die attitude and for not being cowed down by central probing agencies such as the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate. Back in 2019, after he secured bail and walked out of Delhi’s Tihar Jail after spending 50 days there, Mr. Shivakumar was brought in an open car in a procession from the airport, in an attempt to cast his arrest as an “insult” to the Vokkaliga community.

As the KPCC president, he demonstrated his organisational skills by mobilising huge crowds during the Freedom March on Independence Day, Bharat Jodo Yatra, padayatra to Mekedatu and the party’s rallies across Karnataka in the run-up to the campaign. He won with the highest margin of votes (over one lakh votes) in the Kanakapura Legislative Assembly constituency, located on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

One of the richest politicians of Karnataka, in his election affidavit in 2023, he declared assets over ₹1,350 crore, even as he is under the investigation of multiple agencies for his alleged money laundering, income tax evasion and disproportionate assets cases. Hailing from a modest background, Mr. Shivakumar built a formidable business empire ranging from educational institutions to real estate.

His rise and domination in Karnataka politics is the result of hard work, assiduous grassroots management coupled with financial muscle.