Doddalahalli Kempegowda Sivakumar (DKS), recently elected as MLA for the eighth time in Karnataka and in the fray for the post of Chief Minister of Karnataka, is a courageous, passionate, skillful strategist, known for his diligent management and strong grassroots leadership. Known for financial strength. Also his emotional side.
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Coming from the influential Vokkaliga community and backed by solid financial resources, Shivakumar has not given up on his aspiration to assume the role of chief minister. Establishing himself as a leader with statewide influence, he has traveled extensively across Karnataka and has led protests against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since assuming his current position as Karnataka Congress chief. His strategy to reach the coveted post has been on track.
Shivakumar appointed Naresh Arora of Designbox to strategize and plan for the 2023 assembly elections, while carefully planning and engaging with his MP brother DK Suresh to build a positive image for the Congress in Karnataka.
Congress sources say that the PR team had indicated after several surveys that the Congress would win 140 seats.
Shivakumar’s value to the Congress lies in his remarkable talent for resource mobilization within the party, exceptional organizational abilities and his unwavering loyalty to the party and the Gandhi family.
His Rise as the Tiger of Satnur
DKS started as a student leader, rose through the ranks, and became a junior minister in the S Bangarappa government in 1990. In 1985, he challenged Karnataka heavyweight HD Deve Gowda from Sathanur, who went on to become the Prime Minister. Shivakumar was defeated, but Deve Gowda retained his second seat, Holenarasipura, and the Congress leader won the Sathanur bypoll.
He contested Deve Gowda again in 1989 from Kanakapura and lost. Then, in 1994, he was defeated in Sathanur by HD Kumaraswamy, the leader’s son.
In 1999, Shivakumar was ‘Man Friday’ for Karnataka Congress chief and Deve Gowda’s arch-rival SM Krishna, who brought the Congress back to power.
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Shivakumar used his political acumen to gain control of Bengaluru Rural, and then took back Kanakapura from Kumaraswamy in 2004, earning him the sobriquet ‘Tiger of Sathanur’.
Shivakumar is feared by political opponents as he never hesitates to use money, power or emotions to win hearts as well as loyalty.
Congress’ last ‘resort’
This popular Congress troubleshooter is known for fighting alleged poaching attempts by the BJP in Maharashtra and Rajasthan and is often the “last resort” of the Congress high command.
In 2002, when Congress’ Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh was facing a no-confidence motion, Shivakumar hosted the entire Congress MLA contingent at a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru. After a week, he was safely taken back to Mumbai for the trust vote, which Deshmukh won.
In 2017, when Congress strongman Ahmed Patel fought BJP chief Amit Shah for a Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat, Shivakumar hosted 44 party MLAs. Patel won his seat, but by then Shivakumar had been raided by the Income Tax Department.
In May 2018, the incumbent Congress won 78 seats out of 224 in Karnataka, while the BJP won 103 MLAs, 10 short of a majority. The Congress feared that its MLAs would be poached by the BJP, while it tried to forge an alliance with the JDS.
Acting on a call from the party high command in Delhi, Shivakumar moved the MLAs to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Keeping an eye on them like a hawk, he took away their communication devices. The resort was located in the constituency of his MP brother DK Suresh.
Even after the formation of a coalition government of Congress and JDS, in January 2019, three Congress MLAs Anand Singh from Vijayanagar, Nagendra from Ballari Rural and Ramesh Jarkiholi from Gokak rebelled against the Congress and went to Mumbai. Later 10 more people joined them.
Shivakumar was shocked in political circles when he was seen standing in front of the hotel in Mumbai where the MLAs were staying. The MLAs and their BJP hosts realized the danger of letting them talk to them.
During the argument with the police, Shivakumar told the media in front of the hotel: “I have only one heart which I have come to give to my friends. I am not a terrorist…have come to the hotel to have tea. Even That even if I fall here without food, I don’t care. There is no question of leaving this place until I meet him.”
emotional man
“DK Shivakumar is an emotional person. When he sheds tears, it is not a sign of weakness but a sign of his strength and courage to fight like a lion,” said a close aide of the Karnataka Congress chief, when News18 spoke about his struggle to make it asked about Top post of Chief Minister of Karnataka.
It is a known fact that Sonia Gandhi had a special affection for Shivakumar and gave him credit and called it a “gift to Sonia ji” on Karnataka result day. With tears in his eyes and trembling in his voice, he told how he cannot forget the day Sonia Gandhi met him in Tihar Jail.
“I assured Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi that I will perform in the Karnataka elections. I can’t forget Sonia Gandhi coming to meet me in jail when BJP put me there. I preferred to be in jail than to hold office. This is the faith that the Gandhi family, the Congress and the entire country have shown in me.”
Another example of Shivakumar’s emotional connection was when he met the victims of the Chamarajanagar oxygen shortage that caused 24 deaths in 2021.
“The tears of the people of Chamarajanagar do not let me sleep at night. I can see their faces in front of me every day. I will ensure that justice is done.
Numerology Connect: Six is the Charm
Shivakumar is a firm believer in numerology and favors the number six. He says, this is the number that is ruled by Venus, which attracts Shakti. Shivakumar had declared that the Congress would win 141 seats, one more than his strategy team had projected as the total number was six! The Congress won 136 seats and people close to Shivakumar said that the number six could be his lucky charm.
shave-o
After spending 50 days in Tihar Jail after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a Rs 7 crore money-laundering case, DKS came out with a fierce look in his eyes and a jail-grown beard.
“I don’t shed tears. Even if I do, tears come to my eyes seeing people’s love and affection. You have seen how people including my mother and daughter have been harassed, I will not rest until the pure Vengeance leaves those who do this to us unpunished. This beard is a reminder of that,” said an emotional Shivakumar, who broke down during an interview with this reporter in 2020.
He was referring to his daughter appearing before the ED while summons were issued to his mother and wife. “They harassed my daughter,” Shivakumar repeated to this reporter, quietly wiping away tears.
He stood firm. Sonia Gandhi went to him and showed her sympathy. While Shivakumar may not have the same level of influence over his community, the Vokkaligas, as Siddaramaiah does over the Lingayats, his spirited nature attracts younger members of the party. Besides this, his efficient networking skills have played a vital role in keeping the party united.
On one occasion, in an interview with this reporter in 2022, he had said that he would shave off his beard the day he became the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
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Well, the beard remains on his chin as the tug of war between him and Siddaramaiah continues.
“I let this beard grow in Tihar Jail. If this beard has to go and I have to take it off, then only you people of Karnataka can give me that freedom,” he had said.
On the day of counting, when the results gave a landslide victory to the Congress, Shivkumar got his beard shaved off!
“This is an indication of how happy he was. If he has to remove his beard, he will have to become the chief minister.”
Asked about making the CM’s chair, DKS said: “A person with courage makes a majority, I have proved it… Mahatma Gandhiji has been called courageous in times of adversity.” Even when our MLAs left our party, we lost our party, I didn’t lose courage when the MLAs left…”