Siddaramaiah Camp Pressures Congress High Command to Replace D.K. Shivakumar as KPCC Chief

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, July 13, 2025: The power tussle within the Karnataka Congress appears to be intensifying, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his loyalists urging the party high command to replace Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar as president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

Sources within the Congress said Siddaramaiah, during a meeting with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Thursday night, proposed appointing a new KPCC chief ahead of the long-overdue local body elections in the state. These include elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Zilla Panchayats, and Taluk Panchayats.

Siddaramaiah is learnt to have argued that a leadership change in the state unit would help energize the party’s campaign and strengthen its organisational machinery during the local body polls.

Backing the CM’s proposal, several ministers from the Siddaramaiah camp—Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, Minority Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, and Social Welfare Minister H.C. Mahadevappa—also met Kharge in Bengaluru and reportedly favoured a change in the KPCC leadership.

D.K. Shivakumar, who took charge as KPCC president in July 2020, was allowed to continue in the role even after being appointed Deputy CM in May 2023, with the understanding that he would remain in the post for a year. However, Shivakumar has been lobbying to retain his position beyond that period, citing ongoing projects, including the construction of a new Congress Bhavan in Bengaluru and the establishment of 100 party offices across the state.

Party insiders said the Chief Minister proposed the names of Eshwar Khandre and Satish Jarkiholi as possible replacements for Shivakumar. Both ministers have reportedly expressed willingness to take on the KPCC role, on the condition that they are allowed to retain their ministerial portfolios for at least a year.

The Congress high command has not yet taken a final call on the issue. However, the growing divide between the two top leaders—Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar—continues to cast a shadow on party unity in Karnataka, just months before crucial grassroots-level elections.