Meet DK Shivakumar: Congress' go-to man in the Karnataka assembly elections

DK Shivakumar is a politician from the state of Karnataka.

The senior Congress leader, who had predicted BS Yeddyurappa’s resignation before the crucial floor test is being seen as the man responsible for keeping the flock of 78 Congress MLAs, 37 JD(S) MLAs and two independent candidates together and outwitting the BJP strategy in the aftermath of the polls. 

He did not go home for four days before the trust vote on Saturday and was reportedly carrying a suitcase full of clothes. When Siddaramaiah joked about his clothes, DK Shivakumar said that he hadn’t got the time to go home. 

DK Shivakumar set aside his differences with fellow Vokkaliga HD Deve Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy so that the latter could become the chief minister.

He has previously handled crucial situations for the Congress in Gujarat and Maharashtra. In Gujarat in 2017, he was given the task of "protecting" 43 Gujarat MLAs ahead of a Rajya Sabha election crucial for the Congress. In Maharashtra, "I did it when Vilasrao Deshmukh was in Maharashtra and there was a crisis," DK Shivakumar was quoted as saying by a media outlet.

 A member of the Legislative Assembly from Kanakapura constituency, DK Shivakumar served as an energy minister in the previous government. In 1999, he was one of the youngest ministers in Karnataka cabinet.

In the last three decades, he has become the go-to person, the master strategist in the Congress. 

Asked about him becoming the deputy chief minister, DK Shivakumar told DNA, "My leaders will do justice."