Inside Karnataka’s aborted coup: How Siddaramaiah outmanoeuvred DKS

“November revolution” — that’s how the Karnataka press described the attempted change of guard from Siddaramaiah, the Congress Chief Minister, to D.K. Shivakumar (DKS), who has been the putative chief minister-in-waiting since the government was formed two-and-a-half years ago.

Siddaramaiah, 80, taught DKS, 63, as he is popularly known, and the Congress high command a masterclass in realpolitik.

Here is an inside account of how a coup was averted and a rival sent packing — complete with commandeered private jets, snubs from the high command, a dramatic intervention from a billionaire sibling and, eventually, everyone falling in line.

Siddaramaiah — who defected to the Congress — has clearly prioritised staying in power over any semblance of governance in Karnataka, using both his caste credentials (Lingayats, the majority Other Backward Caste community) and controversial schemes such as private-sector reservations (recently announced). The move, pure populism, is likely to be embraced by the central government in its pursuit of electoral gains.

The Congress — once defined by the prudent governance of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh — has in Karnataka embraced a fierce “regional first” ideology and populist agenda, including on the contentious language issue, even in the global IT hub of Bengaluru.

Siddaramaiah was under threat from DKS, whose camp widely briefed reporters that, when the government was sworn in in 2023, a half-term power swap had been agreed upon and was due this month. The CM made two trips to New Delhi and finally managed to secure a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, where he apparently pulled out a new rabbit from his hat: private-sector reservation. Gandhi — who has never questioned Siddaramaiah about Bengaluru’s collapsing infrastructure, repeatedly called out by residents — was reportedly receptive.

After facing serial defeats in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and now Bihar, the Congress high command — effectively the Gandhi siblings and their palace coterie — is reluctant to jeopardise one of the party’s only three governments in the country. Telangana and Himachal Pradesh are the other two.

Siddaramaiah also pressed for a change of guard in the state Congress unit, a direct challenge to DKS, who is the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President. Meanwhile, 10 MLAs who had flown in on private jets virtually laid siege in Delhi, waiting to meet the Gandhi family and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge — a Kannadiga — to lobby for DKS as chief minister for the remainder of the term. They openly told party leaders and the media that Siddaramaiah was harming the Congress by rewarding defectors like himself with plum posts and attempting to weaken DKS by targeting his organisational post.

After his meeting with Gandhi, Siddaramaiah struck back quickly, saying only 10 MLAs supported DKS as party chief and demanding an immediate change. A beleaguered DKS sensed that the Gandhi family would not rock the boat and claimed he was the leader of all MLAs, insisting that those camped in Delhi were merely lobbying for cabinet positions.

Siddaramaiah managed to shift the narrative to a cabinet reshuffle after his preemptive strike, ensuring not only that he remained CM but that all MLAs immediately switched their focus to lobbying for ministerial berths — a true reflection of Indian politics and power, devoid of ideology and centred solely on personal aggrandisement.

D.K. Suresh, younger brother of DKS and a billionaire businessman — and former three-term MP — also stepped in. Suresh had stirred controversy in February 2024 when he said that South India might need to demand a separate country due to fiscal injustices by the Centre. He argued that Karnataka, a major contributor to national taxes, faced budgetary neglect favouring northern India under the Modi government. This time, Suresh met senior Congress leaders and demanded that his brother be given a chance to be CM, warning that ignoring the demand would have significant financial consequences for the party since both brothers raise key resources.

The Congress remains trapped in a dilemma, unable to take action against any leader or demand meaningful governance. It may be recalled that Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan refused to step aside for Sachin Pilot despite being publicly directed to do so by the Gandhis. The Congress later lost Rajasthan — just as Pilot had predicted.

Governance in Karnataka continues to suffer, with MLAs preoccupied with securing ministerial berths and the government rolling out one populist scheme after another to keep rivals at bay.

Meanwhile, the Congress high command still cannot keep its house in order. The party is about to enter the battle for Bengal without any preparation. No lessons appear to have been learned from Bihar.