Doddaalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar, Man Friday of the All India Congress Committee(AICC) has been as expected appointed President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC).
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| D.K.Shivkumar |
No doubt the new assignment to DK Shivakumar is a great sigh of relief to the former power minister who recently spent 51 days in police lock up and Tihar jail. But whether his appointment will bring any cheers to the party, needs to be seen and watched.
The greatest asset of DK Shivakumar so far is his unquestioned loyalty to the Gandhi family which he keeps reiterating at every available opportunity. His pivotal role in coming to the rescue of the party during troubled times is an additional qualification for the Vokkaliga strong man.
In fact, he plunged into active politics during his student days by becoming a member of National
Students Union of India(NSUI), student wing of the Congress party. He very soon became the district president of NSUI during 1981-83.From then on it was no looking back for him initially in party politics and later on in power politics. Once he joined the Government Ramnarayan Chellaram college of Commerce, known notoriously for violent student politics during the early eighties, he graduated to become the General Secretary of the state youth Congress.
As president of Bengaluru Rural district youth Congress committee, he laid the foundation stone for his future political career by organizing free blood donation camps and medical check up camps in rural areas of Kanakapur taluk from where he hails from.
In 1985, DK Shivakumar, then a novice in electoral politics was gifted with the Congress party ticket to take head on the then Janata Party giant in the form of HD Devegowda in Sathanur Assembly constituency. No doubt he was humbled by the senior Gowda, it was only a beginning of the hatred politics between himself and the Devegowda family.
Although he lost his maiden elections that was only a stepping stumble on the way. later on he made the constituency his own personal bastion for the subsequent elections till it became part of Kanakapur after delimitation.
He went on winning from Sathanur constituency as Congress and Independent candidate once during the 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004. During the 1999 elections he gave back to Devegowda by defeating his son HD Kumaraswamy.Though he won from Sathanur constituency for the fourth time during the 2004 Assembly elections and Congress-Janata Dal-Secular parties formed the first ever alliance government in the state, the senior Gowda made it a condition to ensure that DK Shivakumar is not made a minister.
DK Shivakumar, who was also sharpening his weapons in his own way against HD Devegowda found a ripe opportunity during the 2006 Lok Sabha elections. Then HD Devegowda had contested from Hassan and Kanakpur constituencies.He pitted Tejasvini Gowda, journalist turned instant politician and altogether a new face in electoral politics and humbled the mighty political heavy weight sending shocking waves to the powerful Devegowda clan.
He became close to the Gandhi family by providing shelter to Congress MLAs' of Maharashtra when the Vilasrao Deshmukh led coalition government was under the threat of destabilization. He enacted similar role to the Gujarat Congress MLAs' on the eve of Rajya Sabha elections from that state.
From then on began his bad time. His properties across the country were simultaneously raided and law enforcement agencies found many discrepancies in his accounts and papers. Finally he was taken to custody and spent 51 days behind the bars.
When he was finally released on bail, he was given or arranged a tumultuous welcome back home in Bengaluru as if he was returning winning a heroic war! This sort of unashamed reception was not restricted to the city alone but went on later in different parts of the state as well.
Now, after a brief spell of lull in political life DK Shivakumar has bounced back in a big way much to the shock of senior and veteran party leaders. The local party is already a divided house with several groups functioning simultaneously.Just like in other parts of the country, the Congress office here is crowded only when the party is in power. So the challenges are multiple and in what way the Kanakpur Bande(Rock) as he is popularly called by his fan following, intends to take the party forward needs to be watched.
The greatest asset of DK Shivakumar so far is his unquestioned loyalty to the Gandhi family which he keeps reiterating at every available opportunity. His pivotal role in coming to the rescue of the party during troubled times is an additional qualification for the Vokkaliga strong man.
In fact, he plunged into active politics during his student days by becoming a member of National
Students Union of India(NSUI), student wing of the Congress party. He very soon became the district president of NSUI during 1981-83.From then on it was no looking back for him initially in party politics and later on in power politics. Once he joined the Government Ramnarayan Chellaram college of Commerce, known notoriously for violent student politics during the early eighties, he graduated to become the General Secretary of the state youth Congress.
As president of Bengaluru Rural district youth Congress committee, he laid the foundation stone for his future political career by organizing free blood donation camps and medical check up camps in rural areas of Kanakapur taluk from where he hails from.
In 1985, DK Shivakumar, then a novice in electoral politics was gifted with the Congress party ticket to take head on the then Janata Party giant in the form of HD Devegowda in Sathanur Assembly constituency. No doubt he was humbled by the senior Gowda, it was only a beginning of the hatred politics between himself and the Devegowda family.
Although he lost his maiden elections that was only a stepping stumble on the way. later on he made the constituency his own personal bastion for the subsequent elections till it became part of Kanakapur after delimitation.
He went on winning from Sathanur constituency as Congress and Independent candidate once during the 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004. During the 1999 elections he gave back to Devegowda by defeating his son HD Kumaraswamy.Though he won from Sathanur constituency for the fourth time during the 2004 Assembly elections and Congress-Janata Dal-Secular parties formed the first ever alliance government in the state, the senior Gowda made it a condition to ensure that DK Shivakumar is not made a minister.
DK Shivakumar, who was also sharpening his weapons in his own way against HD Devegowda found a ripe opportunity during the 2006 Lok Sabha elections. Then HD Devegowda had contested from Hassan and Kanakpur constituencies.He pitted Tejasvini Gowda, journalist turned instant politician and altogether a new face in electoral politics and humbled the mighty political heavy weight sending shocking waves to the powerful Devegowda clan.
He became close to the Gandhi family by providing shelter to Congress MLAs' of Maharashtra when the Vilasrao Deshmukh led coalition government was under the threat of destabilization. He enacted similar role to the Gujarat Congress MLAs' on the eve of Rajya Sabha elections from that state.
From then on began his bad time. His properties across the country were simultaneously raided and law enforcement agencies found many discrepancies in his accounts and papers. Finally he was taken to custody and spent 51 days behind the bars.
When he was finally released on bail, he was given or arranged a tumultuous welcome back home in Bengaluru as if he was returning winning a heroic war! This sort of unashamed reception was not restricted to the city alone but went on later in different parts of the state as well.
Now, after a brief spell of lull in political life DK Shivakumar has bounced back in a big way much to the shock of senior and veteran party leaders. The local party is already a divided house with several groups functioning simultaneously.Just like in other parts of the country, the Congress office here is crowded only when the party is in power. So the challenges are multiple and in what way the Kanakpur Bande(Rock) as he is popularly called by his fan following, intends to take the party forward needs to be watched.
-Manohar Yadavatti
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