(This story originally appeared in on May 22, 2018)

Once considered close to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah is being kept in the dark about portfolio allocation and Cong-JD(S) power-sharing arrangement.He was the Congress party’s poster boy till May 12, the day Karnataka voted for a new Assembly. He could do nothing wrong; he was given a free hand to choose his council of ministers and select candidates for the 2018 elections. Heck, even Mallikarjun Kharge, the most senior Congressman in Karnataka was moved to the Lok Sabha to make way for Siddaramaiah as the Leader of the Opposition when he joined the Congress in July 2006.And then May 15 happened. A few hours before the counting concluded at 6 pm, Siddaramaiah was informed by the party high command that the Congress will enter into a post-poll alliance with the JD(S) and HD Kumaraswamy would be made Chief Minister.In fact, the Congress high command has kept its entire state unit out of the talks with JD(S) on forging an alliance. It is being handled by Ahmed Patel (Rajya Sabha MP and political secretary to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi), AICC general secretaries Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Ghelot, and KC Venugopal, in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka.Azad on Monday said that he along with Gehlot and Venugopal explained the political developments in Karnataka to Rahul Gandhi. He further said that Rahul and Kumaraswamy would meet and decide on the power-sharing formula and further strategies to form the government.Kumaraswamy, who is in Delhi, met both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi at 10, Janpath, and invited them to attend his swearing-in ceremony.There are indications that Siddaramaiah may not be part of the Congress-JD(S) coordination panel. If that happens, it could be mean near-total isolation of Siddaramaiah within the party.KPCC leaders in Karnataka appear be clueless about what is happening in Delhi. On Monday, Siddaramaiah, as leader of CLP, held a meeting with party MLAs at the Hilton (where they are still holed up).“We will get clarity only after our national leaders return to Bengaluru,” said a senior MLA who did not wish to be identified.“Whatever we are discussing will make no sense unless it is approved by the party bosses,” said another.Meanwhile, it became clear that local Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah may not have any say in the government formation after Kumaraswamy’s meeting with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.Kumaraswamy said that the Rahul has cleared the modalities to be done (on power sharing formula). The same would be conveyed to local leaders on Tuesday through Venugopal which clearly indicates that local Congress leaders have been kept out of the coalition talks.Siddaramaiah had severed ties with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and quit JD(S) in 2005 over the ‘preference’ the latter was giving his son. He joined Congress which gave him everything he asked for.In 2013, when Congress unseated the BJP (largely because of Siddaramaiah’s padayatra to Ballari in response to the threats held out by the Reddy brothers in the Assembly), Siddaramaiah was chosen to be chief minister overlooking Kharge’s seniority. He went on to become the only chief minister after late Devraj Urs to complete a full term in office.The 70-year-old Kuruba leader had few detractors in the party; Congress president Rahul Gandhi had immense faith in him and had even announced that he would remain the CM if Congress returned to power.However, things changed after the results. While Deve Gowda was amenable to a Congress-JD(S) post-poll alliance, he was only wary about his former protege, Siddaramaiah (who had launched personal attacks on Deve Gowda and his son throughout the campaign).It was only after an assurance from the party high command and a telephonic conversation with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi that Gowda insisted that Siddaramaiah should himself announce JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy as the chief ministerial candidate of the coalition on the day of results on May 15. Siddaramaiah did it reluctantly; in fact, he walked back midway into the conference and Ghulam Nabi Azad had to pull him back and force him to make the announcement.After bitter experience of not acting quick enough to grab power in Goa and Meghalaya, the Congress was thinking on its feet to keep the BJP out of power. After the polling on May 12, various exit polls indicated a hung Assembly and AICC general secretary Ahmed Patel opened a channel of communication with JD(S) through its general secretary Danish Ali after obtaining permission from Sonia Gandhi.This was followed by a meeting with Azad, Gehlot and Venugopal. Ali spoke to Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy on Congress’s offer for an outside support. Deve Gowda, however, insisted that Congress be a part of the government besides expressing his suspicion on Siddaramaiah.Once the understanding reached between the parties, the same was communicated to Siddaramaiah on May 12 night. He was also told that the entire issue would be directly handled by the high command with Deve Gowda.The following day, Sonia and Rahul spoke to Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy and offered unconditional support.Azad and Gehlot landed in Bengaluru on the eve of results on May 14. On May 15, by 3 pm, the coalition pact was sealed and Siddaramaiah announced the alliance and Kumaraswamy as the chief minister.In the meanwhile, swords were out against the former chief minister from within the party. Former Speaker KB Koliwad minced no words in criticising and holding Siddaramaiah solely responsible for the poll debacle. Several party leaders in private admit that poor candidate selection, personal attacks on Deve Gowda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi besides the attempts to divide Lingayats were the main reasons for the Congress’s poor show at the hustings.“Look at the results in Mandya, Ramanagar and Hasan districts,” said a senior leader pointing out that JD(S) won due to incessant attacks on Deve Gowda. Barring DK Shivakumar from Kanakapura, the Congress failed to open its account in these districts.Results in Lingayat-dominated regions were no different, the leader said.Several leaders complained on the seat selection process – something that Siddaramaiah had a free hand in. “Let him own the responsibility for the party’s debacle,” another senior leader said.Leaving nothing to chance, JD(S) is fully using the opportunity of Kumarswamy’s swearing-in ceremony be a platform for mobilising anti-BJP forces across the country. The JD(S) has invited chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Kerala besides CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, BSP president Mayawati, National Conference President Farooq Abdulla, MIM president Assauddin Owasi Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have also agreed to attend the swearing-in ceremony scheduled at 4.05 pm on Wednesday on the steps of Vidhana Soudha Deve Gowda who had almost lost relevance at national politics is using his son’s swearing-in event as an opportunity to swing back into national political arena. He even called up Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The force seems to be building up, right here in Karnataka. A few hours before the counting concluded at 6 pm, Siddaramaiah was informed by the party high command that the Congress will enter into a post-poll alliance with the JD(S) and HD Kumaraswamy would be made Chief Minister.In fact, the Congress high command has kept its entire state unit out of the talks with JD(S) on forging an alliance. It is being handled by Ahmed Patel (Rajya Sabha MP and political secretary to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi), AICC general secretaries Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Ghelot, and KC Venugopal, in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka.Azad on Monday said that he along with Gehlot and Venugopal explained the political developments in Karnataka to Rahul Gandhi. He further said that Rahul and Kumaraswamy would meet and decide on the power-sharing formula and further strategies to form the government.Kumaraswamy, who is in Delhi, met both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi at 10, Janpath, and invited them to attend his swearing-in ceremony.There are indications that Siddaramaiah may not be part of the Congress-JD(S) coordination panel. If that happens, it could be mean near-total isolation of Siddaramaiah within the party.