Karnataka CM tussle: Are CBI, ED cases against Shivakumar hurting his chances?

On Saturday (13 May), the Congress wrested power from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state of Karnataka by winning 135 of the 224-seat Assembly. However, since then the party has been in a huddle trying to determine who should be the chief minister of the southern state. The frontrunners in the race as veteran leader Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief (KPCC) DK Shivakumar.

On Tuesday, both the Karnataka leaders met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to present why they would be the better choice for the Karnataka top post. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was also present at the meetings.

Presently, the odds are in the favour of 75-year-old Siddaramaiah owing to his past experience and the support he enjoys not only within the party but also across the state. However, DK Shivakumar, who put off going to Delhi for a day, citing ill health, said that he had ‘delivered’ the state of Karnataka to Sonia Gandhi and the senior leaders of the Congress and kept his promise.

Moreover, there are some within the high command who also believe that Shivakumar had worked hard for the victory and should be rewarded with the CM’s post.

However, the Congress has apprehensions over DK Shivakumar owing to the cases related to money laundering, income tax evasion, and disproportionate assets filed against him.

Here’s a better understanding of the corruption cases against the 61-year-old leader and how it hurts his chances of being chief minister.

DK Shivakumar’s long list of cases

An eight-time MLA, Shivakumar has been a staunch Congress party member since he joined back in the 1980s. He first contested elections from the Sathanur Assembly constituency in 1989 when he was just 27.

Over the years, Shivakumar has climbed the political ladder and become a trusted lieutenant of the Gandhi family as well as earned the title of being a ‘troubleshooter’ for the party. He was at the thick of things in Maharashtra in 2002 as the then Vilasrao Deshmukh government won a no-confidence motion.

However, his rise within the party has not been without scandal and controversy. Over the years, he has gained the attention of the central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation as well as the Income Tax (I-T) department.

Also read: DK Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah? Picking CMs is not a new dilemma for Congress

He first came under the I-T scanner in 2017 when large teams of the Income Tax Department raided over 64 locations across Delhi and Karnataka linked to the leader, who was a minister in the state government. At the time, the I-T department had found Rs 8.83 crore in unaccounted cash at premises linked to the Congress leader and stated in a complaint that Shivakumar was not able to account for the source of the funds.

The raids had come at a time when Shivakumar was sheltering 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat at a resort outside Bengaluru ahead of a crucial poll in Gujarat for Rajya Sabha seats where Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s fortunes were dependent on the 44 MLAs sheltered by him. He had called the raids a part of BJP’s “vendetta politics”.

A year later, the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Shivakumar, A Haumanthaiah, an employee at the Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and other people. The case was based on an Income Tax Department chargesheet filed against Shivakumar and others before a court in Bengaluru for alleged tax evasion and hawala dealings. The I-T department had accused Shivakumar and his associate S K Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through ‘hawala’ channels with the help of three other accused.

The raids and investigations continued but on 3 September 2019, officials from the ED arrested the Kanakapura strongman on the allegations that he indulged in laundering of huge cash through hawala and also using shell companies. He was sent to Tihar prison and was lodged at jail number 7 where fellow Congressman Karti Chidambaram, son of P Chidambaram, had also been lodged in 2018. It was only after a month that he received bail and walked out of Tihar jail.

There’s also the CBI case against DK Shivakumar filed in 2020 on allegations of acquisition of disproportionate assets. Searches were conducted at multiple locations – nine in Karnataka, four in Delhi and one in Mumbai. DK Shivakumar has not yet been questioned by the CBI in this case.

Sources within the Congress state that they are wary of the ‘corruption’ cloud that looms over DK Shivakumar and that if he is selected as chief minister how would the administration run while he is called in for questioning. There’s also the added worry of how the Opposition, namely the BJP, would use his cases as fodder to attack the party.

CM discussions continue

Earlier, the Congress had said that they would announce a name by Tuesday evening on their decision for the top post in Karnataka. However, after a day of hectic parleys and discussions, no decision was taken.

Also read: Not just Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar: Meet other Karnataka CM hopefuls

Both the contenders for the post met Kharge in separate meetings on Tuesday, with News18 reporting that the KPCC chief didn’t hold back in his meeting with the Congress president. It’s being reported that Shivakumar informed Kharge about Siddaramaiah’s mistakes since 2006, the year when the former CM joined the Congress.

“Since Siddaramaiah has come (joined Congress), he has been in power either as the Leader of the Party or as CM so much so that even you could not be chief minister. If you are becoming CM, I have no objection,” Shivakumar told Kharge, as per a News18 report.

He highlighted that he has worked for the party while Siddaramaiah has not contributed to building the organisation and has just enjoyed power. In the worst case, Shivakumar said a Dalit should be made the chief minister but not Siddaramaiah.

On the other hand, sources said Siddaramaiah asked Kharge to go by the views of the majority of MLAs. He said whoever enjoys the support is naturally the popular choice.

At the end of the busy day, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters that a decision would be announced soon. “Appointing a chief minister is not an easy thing. It cannot be imposed from Delhi…Everybody’s view has to be taken into consideration. We have to engage with every stakeholder and then decide who the chief minister will be. The process is on. The observers have already gone there. Met the MLAs. The MLAs have given their opinions. Now, the opinions have gone, all the record has gone to the central leadership. So, in a day or two you will know the answer.”

Interestingly, the BJP had taken seven days for government formation in Uttar Pradesh following its stupendous win in 2022 whereas it took a month in Maharashtra to put a Cabinet in place and nine days in Assam.

With inputs from agencies

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