Chief minister Siddaramaiah is all set to become the first Karnataka chief minister in 40 years of state politics to complete his full term in office.
Siddaramaiah who hails from Mysuru assumed charge as the chief minister in May 2013. Karnataka Assembly polls will be held on May 12, before Siddaramaiah-led government completes its full five-year term on May 28 as announced by the Election Commission.
After D Devraj Urs who ruled as chief minister between 1972-77, no other CM was able to complete a full five-year term. However, Urs during his next term had to resign after which he was succeeded by R Gundu Rao in the year 1980.
Though S M Krishna had provided a stable government between 1999 and 2004, he did not complete the full term as he decided to go to polls five months in advance.
Since 1978, Karnataka has seen 19 governments and had President’s rule imposed four times.
However, Siddaramaiah has proved to be a seasoned politician. Though he was known to be a ‘new convert to the Congress’ with a section of party loyalists becoming upset on his elevation, he ensured that they don’t gang up against him. He has wriggled out of difficult situations and carefully got rid of his adversaries or kept them in good terms.
His adversaries such as former ministers V Srinivas Prasad and A H Vishwanath quit the Congress, while party veterans such as B Janardhan Poojary and C K Jaffer Sharief who used to openly criticise his style of functioning were pacified. He managed to keep Dalit leader and Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikharjun Kharge in good terms by inducting his son Priyank Kharge into the Cabinet.
According to political analyst Harish Ramaswamy, Siddaramaiah had many challenges and despite that he managed to give good governance as well as keep it stable. Siddaramaiah has intelligently taken advantage of the lack of clarity in the Congress high command and emerged as a strong leader, he added.
Even in the Congress circles, leaders admit that Siddaramaiah was initially considered as a ‘liability’ for the party but has now turned a ‘saviour’.
Siddaramiah who was earlier in Janata Dal (Secular) was dismissed as deputy chief minister by the former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in mid-2005. He joined the Congress, which came as a shock to many. He won a very difficult by-election from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru and within three years was the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly in 2009.
He was selected to be the Karnataka CM in 2013, over party stalwart M Mallikarjuna Kharge in 2013. His rise in the party even though being an ‘outsider’ has not only raised eyebrows but also proves he is an astute politician.
Siddaramaiah in his first three years of governance earned the title of a ‘chief minister of bhagyas’ (gifts or rewards), as he launched a series of populist schemes. His populist schemes have been a major game-changer, and as revealed by data collected by C fore, schemes like Anna Bhagya and Ksheera Bhagya are some of the reasons why Congress is likely to regain power in the state. Indira Canteen, aimed at making Karnataka hunger-free, is another initiative that has won the hearts of the masses.
After the sudden death of his 38-year-old son Rakesh in Belgium in July 2016, many expected the CM to retire after the personal tragedy.
But, he proved people wrong. Once inaccessible to the media, Siddarmaiah suddenly became media savvy in the past two years. Opening accounts in Twitter and Facebook, he used social media to connect to people. Today, he has emerged as the most active chief minister on social media.
With bold decisions such as demanding primacy of Kannada and also separate religion tag for Lingayats, he has put BJP in a tough spot.
A tall leader among the masses, Siddaramaiah is seen as among the very few challengers in the Congress to BJP’s campaign of ‘Congress-mukt’ India. In south India, he is the lone Congress face standing guard against BJP’s efforts to make inroads into the southern belt.
Siddaramaiah is aware that the upcoming single-phase election which will be held on May 12 will be one of the toughest. However, in spite he wins or loses, he has already created history.
