BENGALURU: The ‘Ramanagara coup’ — as Thursday’s shocker is being referred to within Congress circles — may have just catapulted Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar’s status within his party. Shivakumar and his brother Suresh managed to independently pull off a political stunt that left BJP red-faced and helpless two days ahead of the bypolls.
BJP candidate Chandrashekar’s press conference in the presence of D K Suresh declaring his return to the Congress was, according to many close to the brothers, a precision attack by Shivakumar to silence his detractors within the party, protect his bastion and convey to the BJP that he won’t cow down.
“Shivakumar is hurt by BJP’s attack on him using Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate. When you push a person to the wall, it is but natural that he will rebel. The Ramanagara coup is DK’s message to his rivals within and outside the party that he is a fighter,” a source close to Shivakumar said. Shivakumar, sources say, had been hatching the coup for a week and Suresh had been prepping. By 2am on Thursday, Shivakumar’s close circuit said that Chandrashekar had been convinced to quit the BJP.
Shivakumar, who has been Congress’ go-to man in crisis situations, had been facing resistance from within the party of late. His indirect conflict with Siddaramaiah, growing closeness to JD(S) — Kumaraswamy in particular — and interference in districts like Belagavi had not gone down well with many. Shivakumar’s urgency to expand his leadership had disappointed the high command. Thursday’s coup has helped Shivakumar reassert his position.
While political observers believe that the Ramanagar coup was too small to have a larger impact, they acknowledge that by pulling something like this off, Shivakumar has decimated the BJP’s attempt to venture into a Vokkaliga vote base. Political analyst A Narayana said, “He may have ensured that he is on a safer ground legally now and wants to give it back to the BJP. This incident has led the BJP to learn that it is not easy to enter into the Vokkaliga stronghold. They have been able to woo Lingayats, large sections of OBCs and SC/STs but their attempts are not yielding any results in the Vokkaliga belt.”