'Politics Is What Politicians Do': DK Shivakumar In Delhi Amid Karnataka Power Tussle Murmurs

New Delhi: The Karnataka power tussle is far from over and tensions between the top two leaders in the state continues, weeks after the Siddaramaiah government completed half its term in November 2025, ever since it came to power in 2023. The state's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has come to Delhi for his meeting with Congress high command, and has continued to stay on in the national capital even cancelling his scheduled trip to the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.

In a conversation with the media on Monday, Shivakumar said, “Politics is what politicans do,” setting off speculations that a change in leadership in Karnataka, may not be off the table at the moment.

It is an open secret that Shivakumar has been vying for the top post in the state, even before the Congress government came to power in Karnataka. His rivalry with Siddaramaiah is well known in political circles. 

“We are all politicians, and politics in what politicians do. Every politican does it, and there is nothing wrong in that. Whom we should meet, and who should meet us for convenience, we decide and we do it,” he said, asking reporters not to make a “big deal” of his stay in the national capital.

“We come here for government work, party work, and for our politics. That is why we are here,” he said.

When asked by reporters on whether he has met his top party bosses, Shivakumar brushed it aside saying, “Time will answer everything.”

Shivakumar's Cryptic Post 

Last week, after meeting Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi at the Mysuru airport, the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister shared a cryptic post on X suggesting that his “prayers” are not over yet.

“Even if the effort fails, the prayer does not fail,” Shivakumar had posted.

Breakfast Meeting

The power tussle between Siddaramaiah and his deputy, came on a full boil in November 2025 when the Congress government completed half its term, with both camps trading barbs at one other. A breakfast meeting between the two leaders at the suggestion of the Congress high command led to some apparent thaw. Some meetings with the Congress ‘high command’ followed up to mend public perception, but the heat continues and is evident.

In December 2025, the Deputy Chief Minister dismissed speculation about a leadership change in the state, asserting that there is no chief ministerial row and that he is content to continue in his present position.

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