The Congress Dilemma In Karnataka: Lingayat, SC, ST Or Vokkaliga

There were hectic parleys at the Congress Legislature Party meeting that took place in Bengaluru on Sunday.

It was being anticipated that the fight would be between D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah for the top post. However there were demands by members from the Lingayat community and the Schedule Caste members who sought for the post of Chief Minister.

The Lingayats are the most powerful community in Karnataka and account for around 17 per cent of the state's population. This time around if one looks at the composition of the MLAs, then the Congress has more Lingayats. The party has 37 Lingayat lawmakers. This would also mean that the Lingayats have preferred the Congress when compared to the BJP.

The Congress this time around has made inroads into the traditional BJP vote bank in Bombay-Karnataka sub-region. It also maintained its lead over the BJP in the Hyderabad region. These are all indicators that the BJP list out on its strong Lingayat vote bank. The community is very dominant in these regions.

While it is being said that Siddaramaiah may win the race to become the chief minister, the other contenders include, D K Shivakumar and Dr. G Parameshwara. M B Patil a strong Lingayat leader may end up becoming a deputy chief minister, sources indicate.

The appointment of deputy chief ministers has been spoken about a lot in the past 48 hours. The compulsion now would now be to appoint a chief minister and the decision on the deputy CMs would be taken later, the source also said.

The other point of contention would be regarding an SC or ST leader to be made the chief. There are 35 SCs and STs among the 136 MLAs that the Congress has. Furthermore there is also a demand by the Muslim community to have a deputy chief from their side. They argued at the meet that a large number of Muslims had voted for the Congress as a result of which the party came to power.

All eyes would now be on Delhi as a resolution was passed in Bengaluru that the party's high-command would take a final call. Three observers were appointed and they would give their feedback to the central leadership.

"This is inner-party democracy at its best. This is the Congress way of arriving at a consensus giving confidence to all that they have been heard," senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.