Upcoming Polls in 5 States: DKS emerges ‘Baahubali’ for Congress

A month after the new Congress government was elected to power in Karnataka, the team led by CM Siddaramaiah seems to have taken to the task of governance in right earnest, by implementing the promises made during the campaigning, one by one, even as the battered BJP keeps its opposition alive by stating that most of them are farcical schemes. However, after having been pipped at the post for the CM’s chair, Doddalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar or DKS as he is famously known, the new Deputy Chief Minister seems to have shrugged it off.

He is seen, of late, occupied not just with his Cabinet work but also a series of special assignments, including trips to Bhopal as a special invitee.

The one-point mission of unleashing DKS on states like Madhya Pradesh and Telangana is clear: The Grand Old Party finds him the best warrior to take on a formidable BJP, which has been beaten fair and square in Karnataka and seemingly is shaky in MP, where the winds of anti-incumbency seem to be gaining traction.

In Telangana, with the Congress self-starting itself into action mode and with TPCC chief Revanth Reddy matching the bombast of CM KCR pretty effectively, the high command seems to have advised DKS to share the best practices he took up to bring them to power.

This will definitely give a booster shot to the national party, which has remained in political wilderness for nearly a decade in what was its pocket borough, the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. As far as pedigree goes, this ‘Baahubali’ of Kannada politics ticks all the boxes effortlessly. He is a fierce loyalist of the Gandhi family, with his unwavering support amply demonstrated both before and after the polls in which the Congress won hands down. Notably, as the dust refused to settle down on the fracas surrounding the CM post, he showed that he was willing to strike but afraid to wound when he declared he would not betray the trust Sonia Gandhi had on him.

If the late Ahmed Patel was the quintessential crisis manager for the Gandhi family with an enviable success rate of combating the rival party machinations, DKS is another lesser-known backbone for the Congress. Quoting a few instances, his ‘services’ ensured that the party’s government in Maharashtra led by Vilas Rao Deshmukh won the no-confidence motion in 2002. DKS had hosted the Deshmukh camp MLAs in his Bengaluru resort then. Later, he enabled the Rajya Sabha victory of Ahmed Patel in 2017 with similar strategies and followed it with denying the BJP the chance to rule by getting into an alliance with Janata Dal (S) in 2018.

As KPCC president, DKS has had a free run and with enormous resources at his disposal, he has often had the upper hand in political manoeuvering. Now that his government is firmly ensconced, he may be seen more and more in other zones of India, doing what he does best: putting together a winning combination.