Change of guard in Karnataka? BJP watches closely as Sidda, DKS slug it out

The BJP is closely watching the political situation in Karnataka, where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar are involved in an intense power struggle.

The saffron party has intensified its criticism of the state government and launched a targeted political campaign against the ruling dispensation.

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While Congress legislators loyal to Shivakumar travelled to Delhi, the Siddaramaiah camp grouped in Bengaluru. Opposition BJP, meanwhile, is positioning itself as a stable option, highlighting issues of governance and financial mismanagement under the “strife-torn” Congress in Karnataka—one of three Congress-ruled states in the country apart from Himachal Pradesh and Telangana.

As Shivakumar supporters rushed to New Delhi to press for their demands, a late-night meeting between them and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge intensified speculations about a possible change in the state. Kharge is expected to be in Karnataka today. Opposition BJP and JD(S), meanwhile, are eyeing possibilities.

Essentially, the saffron side is fishing in troubled waters, preparing for possible changes in the political landscape of Karnataka, sharpening its strategy amid the very visible struggle for power between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, honing strategy around issues like “financial mismanagement, delays in salary disbursements, and governance lapses.”

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition R Ashoka are also planning a joint offensive with JD(S) against “Congress’s policy failures.”

According to BJP leaders, the “power’ struggle” has “weakened” the Congress high command, strengthening Siddaramaiah’s position. Party MP Tejasvi Surya slammed both leaders for their public wrangling, saying that their “ego fight” was harming Karnataka.

The fact is, the tensions between Siddaramaiah and DKS are not new to Karnataka Congress; they have been simmering since the formation of the government in 2023, but now the “2.5 years completion issue”—the supposed deadline for rotational leadership—has brought it to a boiling point.

Siddaramaiah has completed two and a half years in office—the midpoint of a supposed informal rotational agreement between him and Shivakumar. According to the said arrangement, Siddaramaiah would serve the first half, followed by Shivakumar for the remainder. Although the party never officially acknowledged such an arrangement, this narrative has driven much of the current tension. Since the halfway point of its five-year term is in November, some are also calling it the “November revolution.”

Meanwhile, there is also buzz about some “tacit support” for Shivakumar, who earlier this year found himself in a controversy after he sang the RSS anthem in the state assembly. The video of Shivakumar singing Sangh Prarthana, ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale Matribhume’, had gone viral on social media, embarrassing the Congress.