Troubleshooter, 8-time election winner: Will 'emotional' DK Shivakumar become Karnataka's new CM?

DK Shivakumar contested his maiden election from Sathanur Assembly constituency in 1989 when he was just 27.

The tallest Vokkaliga leader in Karnataka, a trusted lieutenant of the Gandhi family, an eight-time MLA, a “trouble shooter”-- that's a good introduction to DK Shivakumar whose whirlwind campaigns across the state in the run up to the assembly elections were just what the Congress needed. But when the party registered a thunderous win at the polls, DK Shivakumar was not his usual combative self.

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar with Rahul Gandhi during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'. (PTI file)

“I delivered… I assured Sonia Gandhiji, Rahul Gandhiji and Priyanka Gandhiji, and Mallikarjun Khargeji I will deliver Karnataka to the fold,” teary-eyed Karnataka Congress chief said.

"I give credit to party cadres and all the leaders for the party's victory. People have reposed faith in us and the leaders supported us. It is a collective leadership and we have worked jointly," he added as his voice choked.

Here are top points on DK Shivakumar, top Karnataka CM contender:

1. Born on May 15, 1962 in Kanakapura to Doddalahalli Kempe Gowda and Gouramma, DK Shivakumar has been a staunch Congressman.
2. DK Shivakumar belongs to the Vokkaliga community- agrarian and the second most dominant force after Lingayats in Karnataka.
3. He started his political career as a student leader in the 1980s.
4. He contested his maiden election from Sathanur Assembly constituency in 1989 when he was just 27.
5. He was at the thick of things in Maharashtra in 2002 as the then Vilas Rao Deshmukh government won a no-confidence motion. "When Deshmukh faced the no-trust vote he got in touch with Shivakumar. As a trouble shooter, Shivakumar huddled the Maharashtra MLAs in his resort on the Bengaluru outskirts for a week until the date of vote. This move saved the Deshmukh government,” a Congress leader recounted.
6. He also proved to be "instrumental" in ensuring the victory of late Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat in 2017.
7. In September 2018, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against DK Shivakumar- based on an Income Tax Department chargesheet filed against him before a court in Bengaluru for alleged tax evasion and hawala dealings.
8. He was accused of transporting huge amounts of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels.
9. Then followed a series of raids by the Income Tax and ED.
10. In September 2019, he was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and got bail in October.
11. DK Shivakumar is the third Karnataka MLA with assets worth ₹1,413 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms noted in its report.