The political stock exchange in Karnataka, with particular reference to the Congress developments, is moving like a Yo-Yo with the party once again abuzz with another change in the leadership of the state government.

After the two top leaders – Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar – smoked the proverbial peace pipe last fortnight, Congress leadership once again tossed up the suggestion that DK Shivakumar will become the chief minister before the year runs out.

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This time the gong was struck by former Karnataka chief minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily who said the hard working Congress leader and the one who took the party to great heights in the elections in Karnataka and also elsewhere would be rewarded by the party.

The former Karnataka CM didn’t stop here, but went on to assert that nothing or nobody can stop DKS from becoming the chief minister, sparking off intense speculations about leadership change.

Interestingly, these suggestions started pouring in soon after DKS came under fire from some of his party colleagues for his participation in the Coimbatore Isha Foundation Shivaratri celebrations. They wondered how he could attend an event of Jaggi Vasudev who abused and made fun of Rahul Gandhi. Any Congress leader would think twice before accepting his invite, especially in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Political analysts even speculated about strong messaging through the event.

Speculations over the leadership change later this year are rife following another senior Congress MLA Basavaraju V Shivaganga claimed that Shivakumar would assume the role of the chief minister by December. The party will win the next assembly elections under Shivakumar and thus he would be the chief minister for at least 7.5 years, he claimed.

If he is hinting at the 2.5 years rotation plan that the party had accepted, the Congress MLA won’t delve deeper into the details but said Shivakumar had strengthened the party’s position in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

But the Congress party had never officially mentioned rotational-CM plans at the time of the election for the Congress legislative party (CLP) leader after the May 2023 polls. Ever since the government was formed, there has been an animated debate in the state on the leadership change in the wake of the tussle between the two top Karnataka Congress leaders. But only last fortnight, Shivakumar publicly accepted Siddarmaiah as the “undisputed leader” of the Congress.

Officially, Congress sought to downplay Veerappa Moily’s statement that exposes internal discord within the state party unit. Karnataka IT BT and Panchayati Raj Minister Priyank Kharge sought to make light of Moily’s remarks saying it is the high command that will take a call if and when it is to be taken. Even Moily’s remarks do not mention any specific timeline, the minister said, adding, “Neither Moily nor anyone else said that DK Shivakumar is going to be the CM today or tomorrow. They simply said that one day, he would be rewarded for his hard work. High command will decide it. If I say so in front of the media, will it happen? Our responsibilities are very clear, Siddaramaiah is the CM, DK Shivakumar is the deputy CM.”

There is nothing wrong in Moily expressing his opinion as a senior party leader. Shivakumar refused to comment on the statement but said it was his (Moily’s) personal opinion.

The deputy chief minister further said he would abide by the instruction of party president Mallikarjun Kharge that nobody should speak in the matter. “I won’t say anything about that, there is no need for it. He (Moily) has shared his opinion. Kharge (Mallikarjun Kharge) has said no one should speak, I will comply with it,” Shivakumar told media persons on Monday.