The rise of Congress’ troubleshooter DK Shivakumar – Firstpost

Karnataka has a new chief minister after Siddaramaiah bowed out. DK Shivakumar took the oath at the Glass House in Lok Bhavan on Wednesday (June 3), days after the veteran Congress leader had announced his resignation as the CM.

Shivakumar was elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party last week. With the swearing-in ceremony, his long-held desire for the coveted top post in Karnataka has been fulfilled.

The development came after the Congress High Command had asked Siddaramaiah to step down. The former CM later backed his deputy’s elevation to the top post, who had been waiting to helm Karnataka for years.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: Carrying a copy of the Constitution of India, DK Shivakumar takes oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

(Video Source: Congress) pic.twitter.com/gYMsDu8hqL

— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2026

But who is Shivakumar? We take a deep dive into his political journey.

Who is DK Shivakumar?

DK Shivakumar, 64, is known as the Congress’ troubleshooter. Belonging to the Vokkaligas – the dominant south Karnataka community, he never hid his ambitions to become the chief minister.

The political journey of Shivakumar, or DKShi as he is referred to locally, began at the age of 18 when he joined the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress.

He served as the president of NSUI’s Bangalore district unit between 1981-83.

Shivakumar later went on to join the Youth Congress, getting elected as the General Secretary for its state unit.

He never shied away from taking risks, even during his early political career. At just the age of 23, Shivakumar took on former prime minister HD Deve Gowda in the Sathanur constituency in the 1985 Assembly elections.

Although he lost to the Janata Dal patriarch by around 15,000 votes, it made him endearing to his party’s leaders, a senior Congress leader told Hindustan Times (HT) in 2019.

In 1999, Shivakumar defeated Deve Gowda’s son, HD Kumaraswamy, from the Sathanur constituency.

SM Krishna, with whom he was close, appointed Shivakumar as his Cabinet minister when he became Karnataka chief minister in 1999.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, Shivakumar helped Congress’ Tejaswini beat Deve Gowda in the Kanakapura constituency.

This victory burnished his credentials in the Bengaluru Rural region and kick-started a decade-long conflict with Kumaraswamy, who also fought Assembly polls from the region.

As the Congress failed to reach a majority in the 2004 Assembly polls, it had to tie up with Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)]. Dharam Singh was made chief minister, but Shivakumar was not included in the state Cabinet.

In 2013, as the Congress came to power, Siddaramaiah became Karnataka’s CM. However, due to allegations against Shivakumar’s involvement in illegal quarrying of granite, he was again excluded from the Cabinet.

The Vokkaliga leader was allotted a portfolio six months after Siddaramaiah formed the government, amid pressure from the Congress.

Shivakumar failed to become the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President in 2017. The same year, there was an Income Tax department raid on properties owned by him, his family members and his business associates. Shivakumar was accused of evasion to the tune of Rs 34 crore.

The IT probe accused Shivakumar of concealing “unaccounted and illegal money” even as he has “active business concerns in the sectors of education, trust and real estate”.

In October 2020, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against Shivakumar, based on the findings during IT raids in August 2017, accusing him of amassing Rs 74.93 crore of wealth disproportionate to known sources of income from April 2013 to April 2018, when he was the energy minister in the Congress-led Karnataka government.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September 2019 in connection with the money laundering case, but secured bail a month later. Shivakumar was appointed as the KPCC chief in 2020.

DK finally gets his wish

The Congress’ emphatic victory in the 2023 Assembly elections was attributed to Shivakumar. His ‘PayCM’ campaign against the then BJP CM Basavaraj Bommai and the attack on the perceived corruption in the government worked in the Grand Old Party’s favour.

As per Indian Express, Shivakumar was also believed to be behind key decisions, such as dissuading Siddaramaiah from contesting in two seats and deciding on several candidates during the elections.

Siddaramaiah’s previous tenure as CM was also seen as a factor in the Congress ousting the BJP from power in the 2023 polls.

“Siddaramaiah is a good politician but he is not very good at tactics and strategy or organising the party. The arrival of Shivakumar changed the situation and there was more focus on strategy and tactics. This helped transform the Karnataka Congress into a well-oiled unit instead of a disparate group with loyalties spread all around,” a young Congress MLA candidate told Indian Express at the time.

With elections won, the Congress had to choose between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, both coveting the CM’s post.

In July 2020, at a press event in Mysuru, Shivakumar had said: “Time has come for the Vokkaligas to elect a community leader after a gap of 18 years,” urging them to rally behind him.

However, the Grand Old Party eventually picked
Siddaramaiah as the chief minister and Shivakumar as his deputy.

At the time, the Karnataka Congress chief said that he was ready to sacrifice the position for the party and the Gandhis.

The power tussle with his deputy marked Siddaramaiah’s second term from May 2023 to May 2026. The rift often spilt into the public, with the Congress High Command stepping in to bring the situation under control.

In October 2023, a Congress MLA had claimed that Shivakumar would become the chief minister after two and a half years of the Siddaramaiah-led government’s tenure.

Shivakumar himself told the media he had agreed to the party’s “proposed formula” of “power sharing or rotational CM agreement”. But the party remained tight-lipped on any such pact.

After several trips to Delhi, especially in recent months, Shivakumar finally got his wish.

ಅಂದು, ಇಂದು, ಎಂದೆಂದು…
ಒಗ್ಗಟ್ಟೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಶಕ್ತಿ!
ಎಂದೆಂದಿಗೂ ಜನಸೇವೆಯೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಬದ್ಧತೆ! pic.twitter.com/6WF5osxCJh

— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 28, 2026

“Am I a sanyasi?” he had said in 2022 when asked for his thoughts on becoming a CM in the future.

With inputs from agencies