The Congress high command’s choice of D.K. Shivakumar for the post of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president seems to be based on his diverse experience and reputation as an organiser and “troubleshooter”, who comes to the party’s aid whenever it finds itself in a tough situation.
Mr. Shivakumar was in the forefront of the party’s attempt to woo back Congress and JD(S) MLAs, who were holed up in Mumbai before joining the BJP. Though the efforts failed, he was seen as leading from the front. In fact, the leader, who has been under the scanner of the Income Tax Department on money laundering charges, has attributed cases against him to these efforts and called it “vendetta politics.”
Mr. Shivakumar served as the working president of the party when former Minister R.V. Deshpande was the KPCC chief (2008-10).
Elected to the Assembly from Kanakapura in Ramanagaram district, he served as Minister in the S.M. Krishna, Siddaramaiah, and the coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy and held various portfolios.
Mr. Shivakumar kick-started his political career when he defeated former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda in 1989 from the then Sathanur constituency. In 1999, he defeated Mr. Kumaraswamy from Sathanur. He also defeated JD(S) heavyweight P.G.R. Sindhia in the latter’s bastion of Kanakapura when he won from here in the 2013 Assembly election.
Mr. Shivakumar, who also runs educational institutions, is considered as a master strategist and credited to playing a major role in the installation of the coalition government in 2018 and victory of Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha elections in 2017 by providing accommodation to Gujarat Congress legislators at a private resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
He also ensured his brother’s (D.K. Suresh) victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections despite Congress being wiped out in the entire State. Mr. Suresh was the lone party MP from the State. Mr. Shivakumar had played a critical role in the victory of a few candidates in the past.
He is among the richest politicians in the State and is also a close confidante of party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
I-T cases
The Income Tax Department had raided his residence in connection with the alleged tax irregularities.
After the collapse of the coalition government, On September 3, 2019, he was arrested on charges of money laundering and income tax evasion. He was in Tihar jail for 50 days before being released on October 24, following the Delhi High Court order granting him bail.
Mr. Shivakumar has called the charges against him “baseless and politically motivated” and blamed the Narendra Modi-led government for framing him on “false charges.”
