There is no power-sharing agreement in place between chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar - both sworn in Saturday after a prolonged stand-off over the top job was resolved by ex-Congress president Sonia Gandhi's intervention - Karnataka minister MB Patil said Monday. Speaking to reporters late last night, Patil said discussions in Delhi last week between Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and the Congress' high command did not include split terms to accommodate the formers' ambitions and that Siddaramaiah would be chief minister for the next five years.
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"There will be no power-sharing between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar. We (have) not (been) informed about (any) such agreements by the high command. If there are any such plans, KC Venugopal (the Congress' General Secretary) would (have) inform(ed) us. Siddaramaiah is going to be our chief minister for the next five years," Patil, widely seen as a Siddaramaiah loyalist, said.
There had been talk of each of Siddarmaiah and Shivakumar serving 2.5 years of the five-year term.
The new minister's comments come amid speculation the 'truce' between the Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar camps will hold only till (and depending on the results of) the 2024 general election.
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The Sunday Guardian cited a source close to the Karnataka chief minister as acknowledging Shivakumar's ambitions to be chief minister and electoral experts as suggesting the Congress' performance in the state in the Lok Sabha polls could affect the security of Siddaramaiah's position.
{{/usCountry}}The Sunday Guardian cited a source close to the Karnataka chief minister as acknowledging Shivakumar's ambitions to be chief minister and electoral experts as suggesting the Congress' performance in the state in the Lok Sabha polls could affect the security of Siddaramaiah's position.
{{/usCountry}}The assignation of portfolios is also expected to trigger another round of furious negotiations, with Shivakumar's camp likely to get several major posts as part of the deal that made Siddaramaiah CM.
The need to balance portfolios among the two leaders' camps and also ensure the various communities that voted for the Congress are kept happy leaves the party facing a big challenge.
The Congress cantered to an easy win - despite exit polls predicting a tight race and possibly a hung Assembly - in the May 10 election; the party won 135 of the state's 224 seats.
Immediately after the results both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar - each of whom had held their ambitions in check during campaigning - descended on Delhi and the Congress HQ, triggering a week of deal-making that required both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to intervene. Eventually, Shivakumar settled for the No 2 post but was given a portfolio of his choice and allowed to retain his position as the Congress' state unit chief; the latter is despite the party's 'one man, one post' rule.