DK Shivakumar Claims Kumaraswamy Eyes Bigger Karnataka Role, Predicts Ashoka-Vijayendra Will Lose Authority Before Polls
Bengaluru, September 13: Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Sunday took a swipe at Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, claiming that he was looking for an opportunity to gain a larger political role in Karnataka by displacing Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka and BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra as the next Assembly election approaches.
Speaking at the KPCC office during a programme where former BJP MLA N.L. Narendra Babu joined the Congress, Shivakumar said Ashoka and Vijayendra would not retain their present authority when the election draws closer and suggested that “someone else” would then descend by “parachute”.
Taking the attack directly to Kumaraswamy, Shivakumar claimed the Union Minister was making statements almost every day because he was looking to see whether removing Ashoka and Vijayendra could create an opportunity for himself.
He also referred to Kumaraswamy’s recent remarks about creating political upheaval and dropping a “bomb” from Delhi.
Shivakumar said Kumaraswamy had secured an important ministerial position at the Centre and should use it to generate employment for people in Karnataka instead of concentrating on removing him from power.
“He has got a big ministerial position at the Centre. Let him create employment for 50,000 people in Karnataka through it. Wherever he wants, even in Mandya, we will acquire land and give it,” Shivakumar said.
He alleged that Kumaraswamy was instead talking about removing him from office, “dropping a bomb from Delhi” and creating upheaval.
Referring sarcastically to Kumaraswamy’s remarks about an impending “upheaval”, Shivakumar asked whether he needed to explain what such upheaval meant, saying people were seeing developments on television every day.
When a person in the gathering shouted “pen drive”, Shivakumar said he did not want to enter into the pen-drive issue. He also referred indirectly to matters involving Central Jail, saying he did not want to discuss what had happened to different families.
Shivakumar said his government was prepared to face any investigation.
“They can do whatever they want to us. They can even tear us apart, hand us over to the CBI or conduct any investigation they want,” he said, while questioning why courts were approached for stays when investigations were initiated against others.
He said he did not want to pursue politics of hatred while holding office and maintained that political power should be used positively rather than misused.
“My wish is that nobody should be troubled. Power should be used positively. It is not there to be misused; my commitment is to use it to do good for people,” he said.
Turning to the legislature, Shivakumar accused the opposition of preventing the House from functioning for 10 days and then taking out a padayatra.
He said the forthcoming session had been called specifically to discuss farmers’ issues and challenged the opposition to debate matters including the Kasturirangan report.
After that, he said, the opposition was free to launch whatever political attacks it wanted, adding that the Congress, its leaders and workers were prepared to face them.
Shivakumar also used the occasion to argue that electoral politics could not be reduced to caste calculations.
“Politics is the art of possibilities. If a leader remains among the people, they do not ask his caste. If the leader is active, people elect him,” he said.
He said some politicians sought to mobilise people on caste and emotional considerations, but maintained that he believed more in policy, ideology, hard work and public engagement.
Shivakumar cited electoral examples to support his argument, asking how a BJP candidate could win in Doddaballapur if voters decided solely on caste. He also referred to former legislator P.G.R. Sindhia having represented his constituency six times despite, according to him, the Marathi-speaking electorate there numbering fewer than 3,000.
He further cited Iqbal Hussain’s victory against Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Ramanagara as another example of electoral outcomes not being determined purely by caste.
Recalling candidate selections during S.M. Krishna’s period, Shivakumar said there had been doubts over whether candidates from Scheduled Caste and backward-class communities could win in constituencies considered Vokkaliga-dominated, but the candidates eventually emerged victorious.
The Chief Minister then defended the Congress government’s guarantee programmes and claimed that policies initially criticised by opposition parties had become a model replicated elsewhere.
Shivakumar went further to claim that US President Donald Trump was also copying the idea of guarantees by promising voters specified dollar payments.
“Today we have become a model for the country through our guarantees. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and other places copied the Karnataka model. Now even Trump in America is copying it,” Shivakumar claimed.
He said the Congress government’s guarantee schemes were being provided irrespective of political affiliation or caste. Referring to Anna Bhagya, he said 4.44 crore people were receiving the benefit.
Shivakumar contrasted Karnataka’s approach with Assam, alleging that guarantees there were being provided only to some sections. He also credited the Congress with implementing the SCP-TSP framework and referred to free bus passes for students.
He said the government was taking administration to people’s doorsteps through its Prajaseve initiative and that he would work to make the programme as successful as possible.
Referring to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Shivakumar said it had been undertaken to protect the country’s unity and integrity. He claimed the Congress had performed well in places through which the yatra passed and expressed confidence that the same political momentum would continue into the 2028 Karnataka Assembly election, enabling the Congress to return to power.
He credited the Congress with contributions including India’s freedom struggle, the national flag and the Constitution, and said the party had consistently focused on welfare measures for the poor.
Shivakumar said the Congress was now seeking to give more responsibility to its grassroots workers, including through guarantee committees at the panchayat level.
According to him, six people in every panchayat would be given an opportunity to serve on guarantee committees, resulting in around 70,000 people receiving positions and an opportunity to participate in public service.
He urged young people to focus on developing skills, saying different types of employment required specialised abilities and that greater skills would create more opportunities.
Shivakumar said the Congress viewed all castes equally and argued that humanity was the party’s fundamental principle.
He also encouraged young Congress workers to make greater use of Bharat Jodo organisations by engaging in activities including theatre and sports and remaining active in their communities.
Turning to the treatment of minorities, Shivakumar accused the BJP of viewing minorities as enemies and questioned why the Union government continued to have a minority affairs department if that was its political approach.
Referring to a remark about members of the minority community being associated with puncture repair work, Shivakumar criticised the comment and noted that the BJP had not given election tickets or ministerial positions to minorities.
“If he does not repair the puncture, will his vehicle run?” Shivakumar asked.
He also criticised the previous “double-engine” BJP governments, questioning whether they had implemented any single programme that had left a distinctive mark.
Shivakumar said that when he recently met a political opponent and asked for a solution, he was advised to use public transport. He said he responded by suggesting that the leader travel by bus with his wife and even travel to Delhi by bus.
On organisational matters, Shivakumar said there was no distinction between old and new entrants in the Congress and cited examples of leaders who had been accommodated after joining the party.
He said Jagadish Shettar had been made an MLC despite losing an election and referred to opportunities given to Lakshman Savadi and several leaders who had previously been associated with the Janata Dal.
Shivakumar acknowledged that accommodating entrants from other parties could cause difficulties for existing Congress workers, but said those who trusted and worked for the party also needed opportunities.
He referred to 13 Congress legislators who had earlier moved to the BJP and claimed that only three or four of them remained politically active there.
“It is difficult to survive there, but people coming from other parties can survive in the Congress,” he said.
Shivakumar said several BJP and Janata Dal leaders were currently holding discussions with him and the party leadership about joining the Congress.
He said district-level leaders had been asked to prepare lists of those who had faith in the Congress ideology and its leadership, including Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, and indicated that opportunities would be created for those joining the party.
Shivakumar said the Congress had already provided positions to several people and maintained that the party would work collectively.
Arguing that there was no alternative to the Congress for “saving the country”, Shivakumar said the BJP had been given a substantial opportunity over the past 13 years and, in his view, that was enough.
He said young people were looking towards the Congress and needed to be provided opportunities, stressing that the party’s different generations would have to work together.
Recalling his own political beginnings, Shivakumar said he was the district Youth Congress president when he first became an MLA and later Narayanaswamy was appointed to the position.
He also recalled an episode involving a college contemporary, Aradhya, during a period when Shivakumar was fielded against H.D. Deve Gowda, saying party workers who remained committed over the years were eventually recognised. Aradhya, he noted, was now the BMTC chairman.
“Where there is hard work, there will be results. If you work for the party, the party will recognise you,” Shivakumar said.
He praised Narendra Babu for bringing more than 1,000 workers into the Congress and said the loyalty of individual workers ultimately contributed to a leader’s electoral success.
Shivakumar concluded by urging Congress workers to remain patient and continue working even without immediate expectations of reward.
Recalling a Youth Congress convention in Delhi, he narrated an encounter involving former Union minister Babu Jagjivan Ram and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to underline his argument that political workers and leaders who return to the Congress fold should be welcomed.
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