DK Shivakumar as new Karnataka CM and Congress's great balancing act

Key points

• After years of tussles, intense speculations, multiple breakfast meetings, and carefully crafted images of public bonhomie, the Congress party in Karnataka finally took the most difficult decision.
• The high command gave its green signal for a leadership change, asking the outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the state’s tallest leader of the AHINDA (a coalition of Backwards Classes, Dalits, and minorities) politics, to step down.
• With his resignation, DK Shivakumar, a strong loyalist of the Gandhi family, took oath today, fulfilling a dream that he has long harboured.
• As an enthusiast of Karnataka politics, I find a distinct caste arithmetic underlying this surprising move.
• By elevating Shivakumar to the Chief Minister's post, the Congress aims to achieve two strategic goals.