Hours after the Congress announced that Siddaramaiah will become the Chief Minister of Karnataka, a report by The Economic Times claimed that the CM bid of DK Shivakumar was not supported by the party’s high command for his dedication towards the Hindu faith.
In an article titled ‘Five reasons why Congress high command picked Siddaramaiah as Karnataka CM,’ the newspaper noted that Siddaramaiah hailed from a strong left background while Shivakumar was perceived as a ‘devout Hindu.’
“Siddaramaiah, who comes from the left background, is seen as a strong ideological opponent of the RSS and the BJP. While Shivakumar has no affinity with any right-wing group, he is seen as a devout Hindu who often visits religious places and makes no effort to hide his religious inclination,” it emphasised.
The Economic Times claimed that such a decision by the Congress party was made in light of the religiously polarised environment of Karnataka.
“This may not have posed much problem if the political climate were not as religiously polarised as it is in Karnataka today. Many believe the Muslim vote shifted to the Congress from the JD(S) in a sign of the community strongly backing the Congress in the state. With the Lok Sabha elections next year, the polarisation is likely to get more pronounced,” it added.
The newspaper emphasised that Congress threw its weight behind Siddaramiah in the hopes of keeping its ideological ‘non-Hindu’ inclinations intact and consolidating the Muslim vote bank.
“In such circumstances, the party high command had to back the candidate whose ideological leanings strongly aligned with the party agenda of resisting the BJP-RSS and cornering the Muslim vote,” it pointed out.
Congress has a deal with PFI and SDPI
It must be mentioned that the Congress party entered into a covert agreement with the PFI and its political wing SDPI for specific constituencies, resulting in the SDPI not fielding candidates against Congress in the 2018 assembly elections.
In comparison to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the PFI’s influence was growing rapidly in Karnataka, and reports claimed that they had compiled a hitlist targeting prominent figures associated with Hinduism, including RSS leaders.
In a significant development, an entire community hall in Puttur was allegedly transformed into an arms depot, which was subsequently seized by the NIA during their raids.
While the election campaign witnessed dangerous levels of polarisation, with the opposition parties raking up the issue of hijab as well as the Congress party promising to ban the Hindu activist group, Bajrang Dal, it is worth analysing how polarisation helped Congress to consolidate Muslim voters and divide Hindu votes to emerge as victorious in the assembly polls.
Sunni Ulma board chief demands Muslim deputy CM post, Home Ministry
Meanwhile, Muslim leaders from the Sunni Ulma Board demanded that a Muslim should get the post of deputy chief minister in Karnataka from the winning candidates of the community.
They also sought portfolios like Home, Revenue, Health and other departments for five Muslim MLAs. Karnataka State Waqf Board chief Shafi Sadi claimed 72 constituencies went into Congress’s hands only because of the Muslims.
