DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka Congress president, has methodically crafted a cadre-based organisational strategy inspired by the RSS-BJP model to rejuvenate the Congress party’s fortunes in the state. Known for his reputation as an “organisation man,” Shivakumar’s approach focuses on consolidating party workers and leaders into a cohesive unit working toward electoral victory.

Since assuming charge in 2019, Shivakumar has openly acknowledged the advantage that the RSS-BJP’s cadre grooming and training system offers. His plan was to transform the traditionally mass-based Congress into a cadre-driven party by strengthening local leadership and morale. His vision is a Congress that, like the BJP, can identify, train, and deploy committed karyakartas (workers) to expand influence.

One of his major goals has been to breach the JD(S)’s Vokkaliga stronghold, historically dominated by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s family. Shivakumar is steadily positioning himself as a leading Vokkaliga leader, using grassroots mobilisation and strategic defections to chip away at JD(S) support.

Through Operation Hasta, Shivakumar has successfully attracted several JD(S) and BJP leaders and workers into Congress. This includes the notable defection of Maddur MLA Kadaluru Uday Gowda in 2023, who subsequently won an assembly seat under the Congress banner. Shivakumar’s skill in smoothing over differences and onboarding leaders has been instrumental in such gains.

His organisational tactics also include direct appeals to JD(S) workers to abandon their regional party, openly challenging union minister and JD(S) stalwart HD Kumaraswamy. At the Sadhana Samavesha event in Maddur, Shivakumar’s call for party workers to join Congress sent a clear message to his rivals.

In a further blow to JD(S), Shivakumar orchestrated the defection of 12 JD(S) and 4 BJP leaders in Hassan, Deve Gowda’s home turf, signalling a major political shift in the region.

Shivakumar extended this strategy to BJP workers, inviting discontented members from Channapatna—Kumaraswamy’s constituency—to join Congress. This led to the high-profile defection of five-time MLA CP Yogeshwar from BJP to Congress, who subsequently defeated Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil in the bypoll.

These moves showcase Shivakumar’s “surgical strikes” on his political opponents, with multiple former BJP and JD(S) leaders publicly embracing Congress under his leadership. The BJP’s internal turmoil, reflected in public admiration for Shivakumar by defectors like ST Somashekar, highlights the effectiveness of his approach.

By building the party “brick by brick, karyakarta by karyakarta,” Shivakumar is reshaping the Karnataka Congress on the lines of the only model that has proven successful against them—the cadre-based system of the RSS-BJP.

With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections approaching, Shivakumar’s organisational reforms and aggressive outreach strategy could significantly alter Karnataka’s political landscape, setting the stage for a stronger Congress resurgence.

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