Shivakumar seems to be the latest winner in the war over Vokkaliga heartland

Congress victory in Channapatna seen as Shivakumar's revenge, boosting party prestige in Vokkaliga politics and KPCC leadership prospects.

The win for the Congress in the Channapatna Assembly constituency byelectionis being seen as revenge extracted by Deputy Chief Minister and Vokkaliga leader D.K. Shivakumar months after facing a humiliating defeat in Vokkaliga-dominated areas in the parliamentary election. Not only did he manage to settle a personal score with his archrival in Vokkaliga politics, but the win is being seen as restoring the prestige of the party in the Old Mysore region.

It is likely to provide a personal boost within the party to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president who is believed to be waiting in the wings to replace Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the future. At a personal level, he has managed to defeat Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the son of his archrival and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, to avenge the electoral loss of his brother D.K. Suresh in the Bengaluru Rural parliamentary seat earlier this year.

Congress sources said that though the drubbing of the party suffered in the Old Mysore region in the Lok Sabha election cannot be salvaged, the Channapatna byelection results have provided him a boost within the party and increased his stake in the community. “He brought C.P. Yogeshwar from the BJP to the Congress, though the latter had worked to defeat his brother, with the sole intention of winning the seat for the party and defeating his rival,” said a source close to Mr. Shivakumar. The source also pointed out the “loyalty” of Mr. Shivakumar towards the party despite being hounded by investigative agencies besides the threats and offers made to him to join the BJP since 2017.

It has been a full circle for the decades-old rivalry between the families of Mr. Shivakumar and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, considered to be a towering Vokkaliga leader. Mr. Shivakumar — setting aside his personal animosity — was also seen as among the Congress leaders favouring an alliance with the JD(S) in 2018 to keep the BJP at bay, despite the post-poll alliance opposed by many in his party, including Mr. Siddaramaiah. Though Mr. Shivakumar claims credit for trying to save the 14-month-old JD(S)-Congress alliance government led by Mr. Kumaraswamy, the latter, however, has been sceptical of such claims and believes the JD(S) weakened in Ramanagara district at the cost of the Congress. This time, however, the Channapatna result has struck both Mr. Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy hard.

In Vokkaliga politics, defeating the JD(S) in a community-dominated seat is being seen as the end of another battle over the community turf after Mr. Shivakumar took over as the KPCC president in 2020. The community, which is believed to have favoured the Congress in the 2023 Assembly election, is learnt to have tilted to favour the JD(S)-BJP alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. “The pendulum seems to be swinging both ways. Mr. Shivakumar is the latest winner,” a Congress source said, suggesting that the situation in this political hotbed remains dynamic.