The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a dig at Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar amid a leadership tussle in the Congress government in the state.
The BJP’s Karnataka unit posted an AI-generated clip on its official X account, which shows Shivakumar buying a “chief minister chair” from an e-commerce giant’s website. Shivakumar’s camp has been pushing hard for his elevation as the Chief Minister in light of a rumoured power-sharing agreement with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
DK Shivakumar right now
In the video, Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress chief, tries to add the chair to the cart, but it displays an “out of stock” message.
“DK Shivakumar right now,” the BJP captioned the video.
Earlier, Shivakumar, responding to reports regarding the current ‘internal conflict’ in the Karnataka Congress, specifically in reference to the CM position, said on Tuesday that he doesn’t want to embarrass or weaken the party.
“I believe in conscience. We should work according to conscience. I don’t want to embarrass the party or weaken the party,” said DK Shivakumar, in Kanakapura, Bengaluru South district.
Speculation has been rife about a change in leadership in Karnataka, as the Congress government completed two and a half years of its term this month. Many have referred to the development as the “November revolution”, even as supporters of Shivakumar have demanded that he should become the next Chief Minister.
The leadership issues in Karnataka
After the Congress victory in the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections, reports claimed that a compromise had been reached between Shivkumar and Siddaramaiah based on a “rotational chief minister formula”. According to this formula, Shivakumar would take the helm from Siddaramaiah after two and a half years. The party had rejected these reports
Siddaramaiah recently said he would continue in office for the full five-year term, subject to the Congress high command’s decision.
The BJP, on the other hand, has intensified its attack on Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah amid allegations of a power struggle within the Congress. The opposition party in Karnataka has been posting AI videos on X, taking a jibe at the two Congress leaders.
‘200% DK will be CM soon’: says Cong MLA
Congress party sources said a batch of six legislators supporting Shivakumar had travelled to Delhi on Sunday night to meet the high command, with a few more expected to follow. Last week, around 10 MLAs had also met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain, while stating that everyone will abide by the high command’s decision, expressed confidence in Shivakumar’s elevation.
I believe in conscience. We should work according to conscience. I don’t want to embarrass the party or weaken the party.
“I always stand by that statement… 200%, he will become the CM soon. The high command will decide. As our leader (Shivakumar) said, the transfer of power is a secret deal among five to six party leaders, and those five to six people will decide,” he added.
