Karnataka deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar is likely to continue as the president of the Congress state unit for at least another year because of the upcoming and long-overdue local body polls in the state.

After chief minister Siddaramaiah expressed readiness to hold the local body polls, including that of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), after the Lok Sabha results on June 4, the party is set for another battle in the state.

“This is why we need Shivakumar to lead the party since he is known for his organisational skills that helped us come to power in the state and (we) expect to win a good number of seats in the LS polls,” said a party functionary close to Shivakumar.

While the BBMP election has been due since September 2020, the zilla and taluk panchayat elections are pending since April-May 2021. They were deferred for multiple reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic and reorganisation of the wards in the city councils and panchayats.

The Congress functionary said there is no better leader than Shivakumar to lead the party to consolidate on the gains made in 2023 when it won the state Assembly polls. “He (Shivakumar) is the right man to lead the party, especially when we are faced
with continuous challenges from the BJP,” the party functionary said.

Shivakumar, who assumed charge as the state party president in July 2020, has been reminding that the Congress came to power in the state under his leadership. “The party came to power in the state under my leadership during the four years as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president,” Shivakumar had told reporters on Tuesday at an event at the party office here. The statement was seen by many as a reminder of his battle for supremacy with Siddaramaiah.

The immediate challenge for Shivakumar is the upcoming elections to the Legislative Council. Of the 11 seats, the Congress has sufficient numbers to win seven.