By Rahil Nora Chopra
Siddaramaiah, who happens to be the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka, has resigned and paved the way for his bête noire, DK Shivakumar. While the Congress will need to handle the fallout very delicately, the party high command will need to take the Siddaramaiah loyalists within the party into confidence. This could include giving them with cabinet positions and providing them leadership roles within the state Congress unit. Siddaramaiah is a grassroots leader, who enjoys significant local support, especially amongst the OBCs which is hard to ignore. Over the last two decades, since making the switch to the Congress, Siddaramaiah has been one of the architects of the Congress’ ‘AHINDA’ social coalition, which brought together minorities, backward castes and Dalits under one umbrella, and has been instrumental in shaping the Congress’s electoral arithmetic in Karnataka for two decades. The Congress high command had offered him Rajya Sabha seat and given him a national role. The move was to tackle two birds with one stone. One is to bring an OBC leader like Siddaramaiah to the national stage to boost Rahul Gandhi’s social justice campaign. The other was to tactfully avoid a confrontation between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. But Siddaramaiah had refused to take up the offer and declared that he would continue in active politics in the state and vowed to fight against communal forces until his last breath. Siddaramaiah, 78, now joins an elite group of Karnataka leaders who have served as Chief Minister more than once, including S. Nijalingappa, Veerendra Patil, D. Devaraj Urs, Ramakrishna Hegde, HD Kumaraswamy, and BS Yediyurappa. Whatever happens in the near future, Siddaramaiah will be a vital part of the Congress’ re-election bid in 2028.
SIDDA TALKS TO RAHUL, DECISION ON NEW KARNATAKA CM SOON
After resigning from the post of the chief minister of Karnataka, Congress leader Siddaramaiah interacted with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, holding discussions emphasizing on government formation, cabinet restructuring and his future role in the party. He was accompanied by his son Yathindra. The meeting carries significance amid the ongoing leadership transition in Karnataka, with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar expected to take over as the next chief minister. Sources signalled that several ministers from the outgoing Siddaramaiah cabinet may not find a place in the proposed Shivakumar-led government. Discussions are also ongoing on appointing four deputy chief ministers in an attempt to maintain social and regional representation within the new cabinet. According to sources, Siddaramaiah is likely to seek representation for his son and close loyalists in the new cabinet, including a possible deputy chief minister’s post. The Congress will also focus on rearranging the party organisation in Karnataka. A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party is likely to take place on Saturday to elect the new chief minister.
RAHUL GANDHI, DHARMENDRA PRADHAN SPAR OVER CBSE OSM CONTROVERSY
The verbal war between Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan continues over the CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) controversy. The minister alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared frustrated due to continuous electoral defeats and did not stand with India’s scientific progress. The minister further said the government was committed to ensuring that students did not face additional stress due to the controversy. Meanwhile, Gandhi on Thursday ratcheted up pressure on the Union government over the CBSE result fiasco, saying if Prime Minister Narendra Modi cared, he would have sacked Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for ruining the future of lakhs of students. Reiterating his questions over the CBSE OSM issue, Gandhi asked why COEMPT was awarded the contract despite the company previously being embroiled in controversy under another name.
BJP PICKS NEW HEADS OF STATE UNITS IN TRIPURA, HARYANA, PUNJAB, DELHI
The BJP declared the appointment of new state unit presidents for three states – namely Tripura, Haryana and Punjab – along with Union Territory Delhi. With the appointments come as the BJP continues its efforts to strengthen the party’s state leadership structure and sharpen its organisational machinery in states with varying political challenges and electoral equations. Harsh Malhotra has been appointed as the new president of the BJP’s Delhi unit, while Kewal Singh Dhillon will head the party in Punjab. In Haryana, the party has appointed Dr Archana Gupta as the new state president. Abhishek Debroy has been named president of the BJP’s Tripura state unit. Meanwhile, Delhi remains a key focus area for the BJP after recent electoral contests intensified the political rivalry between the saffron party and the Aam Aadmi Party. Political observers believe that the BJP has taken this prominent decision as part of a strategic move to project a Sikh face in Punjab, with an emphasis on the 2027 Assembly elections.
FOLLOWING POLL DEFEAT, DEMORALISED TMC SEES A STRING OF RESIGNATIONS
The staggering poll debacle in the West Bengal assembly has sparked off a domino effect in the Trinamool Congress, which has resulted in fresh resignations. A recent high-profile resignation comes from former Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen, who has stepped down as TMC national spokesperson. Several other TMC leaders also quit key organisational posts. Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar also resigned from her organisational posts. While TMC councilor Arup Chakraborty quit as a party spokesperson and stepped down from his position in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s public accounts committee. (IPA Service)
