Congress High Command Achieves Successful Transfer Of Power In Karnataka After Taking Lessons From Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh
The transfer of power was done to prepare both party and state government for 2028 Assembly polls and 2029 Lok Sabha elections, said party insiders.
Published : May 28, 2026 at 7:58 PM IST
New Delhi: The Congress high command planned and executed a successful transfer of power in Karnataka after taking lessons from similar operations that did not yield the desired outcomes in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah, who assumed his second term in 2023, resigned on Thursday paving the way for his deputy DK Shivakumar who missed the chance despite leading the Congress to a historic 135/224 seats victory against the BJP.
Siddaramaiah resigned after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi advised the chief minister to do so during their meeting on May 26. The Chief Minister also had extensive consultations with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC in charge of organisation KC Venugopal, AICC in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala for several hours the same day.
According to party insiders, although the plan of action had been agreed upon and unfolded accordingly, the party deliberately kept denying speculation over the chief minister’s resignation to avoid unnecessary frenzy it would have caused among the followers of both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar besides the lawmakers and the state workers. Siddaramaiah, one of the most respected leaders in the state who enjoyed the support of several MLAs had to be dealt with utmost caution while giving due regards to the contributions of Shivakumar, who rose from the ranks and is one of the key troubleshooters nationally.
The manner in which the CM’s resignation and Shivakumar’s promotion were made public prompted the state unit to claim unity by posing pictures from a breakfast meeting, where Siddaramaiah was seen blessing Shivakumar, who was touching the CM’s feet.
The Congress insiders said Shivakumar’s swearing in was a mere formality and would be completed over the next few days. The transfer of power was done to prepare both the party and the government for the 2028 Assembly polls and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Besides the new CM, a new look cabinet which will have some younger faces will also be unveiled over the coming days. A suitable replacement for Shivakumar, who also holds the post of state unit chief, will be found soon along with a few working presidents to give party roles to younger faces, the insiders said.
The Congress insiders said the transfer of power showed that though the high command took a few months to come to a conclusion over the leadership issue that had been resurfacing in Karnataka since the Siddaramaiah government completed half term in November 2025, the central leadership acted decisively now.
“This is a welcome change. Whenever such a transfer of power takes place in a ruling party, there is a lot of disturbance by the workers who may not adjust to the change. But our leadership acted decisively and achieved the transformation smoothly in the state. The state team had all along been united and Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister delivered on all the promises the party had made in 2023. He took the state forward. The same momentum will continue under the new CM who is an organisation person and had a big role in the 2023 victory. The entire state team is set for transformation. The Congress team is looking united while the BJP is suffering from infighting. The Congress will not only return to power in Karnataka in the 2028 Assembly elections, we will form the next government at the Centre in 2029 as well,” AICC functionary and senior state leader BM Sandeep told ETV Bharat.
Deputy CM Shivakumar’s promotion was done apparently on the basis of a 2023 promise under which he was to get the CM chair after mid-term. The change of guard in Karnataka actually came after Siddaramaiah completed three years in office but still leaves two years for the CM designate.
However, the high command could not achieve similar success in the past, the insiders said. In 2022, then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s plan to get Sachin pilot elected as Rajasthan chief minister was negated by over 80 MLAs loyal to incumbent Ashok Gehlot. The high command wanted loyalist Gehlot to become party chief but the veteran was keen on state politics. The rebellion of MLAs had irked Sonia Gandhi who later pardoned Gehlot after the Chief Minister explained his position. In the process, Gehlot lost the chance to become Congress chief. Sonia then chose veteran Mallikarjun Kharge who was elected party chief a few months later.
The change of guard in Rajasthan was planned to end the power tussle between Gehlot and pilot from 2018 and led to the defeat of the grand old party in the 2023 state elections. Pilot was initially made Gehlot’s deputy but was later ousted by the Chief Minister for allegedly planning a rebellion against his government in 2020. Later, pilot was made a member of the Congress Working Committee and AICC in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
Although there was no unconfirmed mid-term power swap formula in Rajasthan, there was reference to a similar promise in Chhattisgarh where a power tussle surfaced between then Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his deputy TS Singh Deo mid-term. However, their issues could not be resolved due to one or the other situation that kept Singh Deo waiting for his chance. The Congress came to power in Chhattisgarh in 2018 and lost the state to the BJP in 2023. AICC in-charge Pilot has been trying to regroup the state unit since then.
“The way the high command as well as the Karnataka Chief Minister and his deputy conducted themselves over the past few days was remarkable. The Karnataka issue was handled by Rahul Gandhi with maturity. The Congress has shown it is a democratic party, which allows divergent views for a while but resolves issues amicably in the end. Wherever the state leaders listen to the high command’s advice, things become better. But that could not happen in some states. The BJP had been trying to disrupt the Congress government in Karnataka for long but could not succeed. We will win in 2028 as well,” CWC member Jagdish Thakor told ETV Bharat.
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