Foil to Shivakumar, Sonia loyalist, vocal BJP-RSS critic: Meet new Karnataka Congress chief Hariprasad

The new Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president B K Hariprasad, 71, and the new Chief Minister and ex-KPCC chief D K Shivakumar, 64, who are both considered staunch Gandhi family loyalists, have had similar trajectories in the beginning of their political careers.

Both leaders entered the Congress, a decade apart, after gaining reputations as streetfighting leaders in some Bengaluru colleges’ student unions heavily influenced by local gangs at the time.

Hariprasad’s transformation into a politician after his stint as a Bengaluru student leader came during the eras of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, while Shivakumar’s emergence as a leader happened initially during the Rajiv Gandhi period and later as one of the troubleshooters for Sonia Gandhi.

The similar arcs of the early political careers of Hariprasad and Shivakumar, however, diverged in subsequent years in terms of their contrasting ideology, with the common denominator between them being loyalty to the Gandhi family, particularly Sonia Gandhi.

While Hariprasad evolved to become a polished and trusted Congress functionary, who has espoused the party’s social justice ideal over the last four decades, Shivakumar, who still retains some rough edges, has become Karnataka’s richest businessman-politician with a reputation for managing organisation.

Why Hariprasad?

Hariprasad was appointed the new state Congress chief on June 3 after Shivakumar took over as the CM in place of Siddaramaiah, an OBC Kuruba leader. Shivakumar remained the KPCC chief for six years as he had refused to give it up until the Congress elevated him to the CM’s post.

The Congress high command’s decision to hand the KPCC leadership to Hariprasad, who belongs to Idiga OBC community, on the day Shivakumar, who is from a dominant caste Vokkaliga, is seen as its attempt to create a political counterweight to a domineering Shivakumar.

Story continues below this ad

The balancing of OBC caste interests is vital for the Congress as it attempts to navigate through an era without its biggest OBC leader with a formidable base among the oppressed groups and minorities, Siddaramaiah, who was eased out as the CM to make way for Shivakumar after three years.

With Shivakumar seen as an exponent of “soft Hindutva”, the Congress will be relying on Hariprasad to counter the politics of the BJP and Sangh Parivar — a role that Siddaramaiah took up strongly during his tenure.

Hariprasad has also often been combative in countering the right wing. “Minority communities are targeted and whatever words that come to the mind are used against them. There is a party in which the more a person attacks a minority community the higher they rise in the organisation to become even the PM or CM. With the ulterior motive of political gain communities should not be targeted,” Hariprasad, an MLC, said in the state Upper House during a debate on the Karnataka Hate Speech Prevention Bill.

“Religion has got linked to politics and this link has politicised and militarised some religions. When hate comes out of religion it creates problems. This is the reason we have to remain within the framework of the Constitution and law,” Hariprasad told the House during a debate on the anti-conversion bill that was passed by the then BJP government in 2022.

Story continues below this ad

Hariprasad has been known as a strident critic of the Sangh Parivar’s communal politics over the years.

Social justice credentials

The Congress will be banking on Hariprasad to champion its cause of OBC interest and social justice, even as Shivakumar relies more on money and organisational capabilities to rally the party, holding little sway over backward communities.

Hariprasad, who has been the eyes and ears of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership over the years is a proponent of the caste census who, like Siddaramaiah, advocates caste data for providing reservations.

On the other hand, Shivakumar has been an opponent of the caste census, and the Congress is likely to face a challenge if it demands the implementation of the caste survey report of the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission, which was accepted by Siddaramaiah in one of his last official acts as the CM.

Story continues below this ad

During the current tenure of the Congress government, Hariprasad was initially seen to be in the Shivakumar faction but later switched to the Siddaramaiah camp. He was widely tipped to be inducted in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet in 2023 but did not find a place despite Shivakumar’s backing. He was believed to have been kept out by the then CM despite a clearance by the party leadership.

At an OBC rally in Bengaluru in September 2023, Hariprasad had even questioned Siddaramaiah’s love for good life. “Someone who wears a panche (dhoti), a Hublot watch and a khaki chaddi inside cannot be a socialist,” he said in an indirect reference to a controversy that engulfed Siddaramaiah during his first CM stint in 2016, when he had accepted an expensive Hublot watch as a gift.

Hariprasad was then reprimanded by the AICC, which issued him a notice noting that he was accused of criticising the CM publicly and sharing the dais with BJP and YSRCP leaders at the OBC event.

Later, after his falling out with Shivakumar, Hariprasad was wooed by the Siddaramaiah camp in view of his clout in Delhi, as the feuds between the two camps over the CM’s post escalated.

Story continues below this ad

Hariprasad also began efforts to position himself as an OBC leader alongside Siddaramaiah by organising multiple events in Karnataka and Kerala in honour of the Billava/Idiga community saint Sree Narayana Guru.

“Since the exit of Bangarappa (former CM and OBC Idiga leader) from the Congress there has been no consolidation of OBC votes for the party. By positioning Hariprasad as a key OBC leader the Congress is trying to recover some of OBC ground that could be lost with the exit of Siddaramaiah from the CM’s post,” said a Hariprasad associate.

Hariprasad’s fortunes

While Hariprasad has not enjoyed success in elections – losing the 1999 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls for the Bangalore South constituency – he has been a four time Rajya Sabha member and a Congress in-charge secretary for the Assembly polls in 18 states. He also has a reputation in the Congress as a dependable handler of party finances.

“One of the reasons that Hariprasad was entrusted with the duty of the Congress in-charge for so many state polls is the trust the Congress leadership places on his dependability for the honest distribution of poll funds,” said a party leader.

Story continues below this ad

A former AICC worker recalled that when the Congress was out of power after 2014 there would be no functionaries other than Hariprasad at the AICC headquarters in Delhi to interact with the public. He was an AICC general secretary from 2006 to 2018.

Hariprasad’s family has also not had electoral success in Karnataka with his brother B K Shivaram, a high-profile former police officer, losing the Malleshwaram Assembly seat in 2013, and a nephew Rakshit Shivaram losing the Belthangady seat in Dakshina Kannada in 2023.

His family has its roots in the communally polarised coastal Karnataka region of Dakshina Kannada.

Key challenges

Among the key challenges that Hariprasad will face as the KPCC chief is his own sharp temperament and rebellious nature even as he is required to ensure a synergy between the party and the government where CM Shivakumar is expected to be a one man show.

Story continues below this ad

The fact that Hariprasad does not bring any significant vote base of his own to the table is likely to pose an obstacle despite the caste balancing act.

A Siddaramaiah associate and senior minister, Satish Jarkiholi, who is a Scheduled Tribe (ST) leader with organisational capability and a base in north Karnataka, had also sought the KPCC post but was reportedly rejected on account of him seeking to hold onto his ministerial job while being the party chief, like Shivakumar.

The Congress expects Hariprasad to put the party in a winning position in the 2028 Assembly elections. “When he (Shivakumar) is fighting for the cause of the Congress there is a need to strengthen his hands. We have to get down to the streets. Whoever wants power and positions must go along with Shivakumar to strengthen the Congress, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. The Congress is a divine party on account of it being built on the sacrifices of many leaders. I assure the party workers that I am with them always,” Hariprasad said after being named as the KPCC chief.

“I understand the aspirations of backward classes, Dalits, minorities, farmers, labourers, women, and youth. Therefore, with this in mind, let us reorganise and ideologically strengthen the Congress party in Karnataka from the booth level. The capable ideological leaders and workers in the state will join hands with me in this endeavour,” he said.

Story continues below this ad

Praising Hariprasad, senior Congress minister M B Patil said: “He has worked in the Rajya Sabha, he knows the organisation inside out. He is the right choice for the KPCC president. He has a strong philosophy of Congress culture. Also, to fight the communal forces, he will be a most suitable PCC president. Under his leadership, I think that with Shivakumar as the CM and with Siddaramaiah’s guidance and Mallikarjun Kharge’s guidance, the party will function well.”