Come August, Karnataka will witness a bout of "birthday politics" to save a chief minister's chair.

Loyalists of chief minister Siddaramaiah, from the Congress and the backward-minority communities that have been his mainstay, plan to convert his birthday celebrations into a show of strength to pre-empt his removal amid a leadership tussle in the party.

Siddaramaiah’s loyalists, many of them state ministers, have decided to hold his 77th birthday bash on a grand scale in Hubballi on August 12 to send out a message that they would not tolerate any move to replace him as chief minister.

Supporters of 62-year-old deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar, including seers from his Vokkaliga community, have been demanding his elevation as chief minister.

The Ahinda group of communities — "Ahinda" being a Kannada acronym for minorities, OBCs and Dalits — that have long supported Siddaramaiah are expected to throw their weight behind the chief minister's birthday celebrations.

Siddaramaiah, with his socialist background and backward (Kuruba or shepherd) caste origin, has for decades been an advocate of Ahinda interests.

His loyalists celebrated his 75th birthday in August 2022 as "Siddaramotsava" in Davanagere to convince the Congress bosses to appoint him as chief minister if the party won the May 2023 Assembly polls.

Rahul Gandhi attended the event, where Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar put up a show of unity by hugging each other on the dais.

But after the party rode an anti-incumbency wave against the then BJP government to register a thumping win last year, Shivakumar made a strong pitch for the top post on the strength of being the state unit leader.

It took immense effort from the high command to persuade Shivakumar to step back and accept the post of deputy chief minister.

Siddaramaiah’s loyalists now want to send a message to the party central leadership about his massive popularity to nip in the bud any plan for a mid-term leadership change.

Congress sources said that ministers H.C. Mahadevappa, K.N. Rajanna, Byrathi Suresh and Santosh Lad were among the architects of the planned birthday bash in Hubballi. Ahinda leaders are to be invited in numbers.

Prabhulinga Doddamani, state president of Ahinda — a social organisation that borrows its name from the acronym — said a date convenient to Siddaramaiah would be finalised.

"August 12 (Siddaramaiah's actual birthday) is a tentative date. It could change depending on the chief minister’s convenience and availability,” he told reporters.

Doddamani had last week threatened a state-wide agitation if the Congress replaced Siddaramaiah as chief minister.

The threat had followed a demand from Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami, leader of the Vishwa Vokkaligara Mahasamsthana Mutt, for Shivakumar to be given a shot at being chief minister since Siddaramaiah was already in his second stint in the top job.

The leadership tussle took another twist when the Lingayat seer, Srisaila Jagadguru Channa Siddharama Panditharadhya Swamy, urged the Congress to appoint a Lingayat leader as chief minister.