Jarkiholi Backs Shivakumar for CM Post If Congress Retains Karnataka in 2028

Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi has said he would have no objection to D.K. Shivakumar continuing as Chief Minister if the Congress retains power in Karnataka after the 2028 Assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Mr. Jarkiholi said Mr. Shivakumar was working to bring the party back to power, and asked why he should not hold the top post if those efforts succeed. His remarks carry weight given his growing proximity to the Chief Minister, which has drawn attention in the wake of recent Enforcement Directorate searches at his premises.

Mr. Jarkiholi had earlier expressed a desire to become Chief Minister in 2028 if an opportunity came his way. On being asked about that ambition, he said age was on his side and he could afford to wait for his turn, adding that there was no urgency and that he had only voiced a wish should circumstances permit.

He also pushed back against suggestions of a rift with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, saying the two remain on good terms. Mr. Jarkiholi, once seen as a close associate of Mr. Siddaramaiah, noted that they had met only when necessary in the past and that the situation was unchanged. Asked whether Mr. Siddaramaiah had reached out after the ED searches, he said Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the former Chief Minister's son and a Congress leader, had visited him, and that it was enough for one member of a family to come.

Mr. Jarkiholi described Mr. Siddaramaiah as the "captain" of their political team and rejected the suggestion that his close aides had deserted him. On his absence from a recent convention in Bengaluru, he said the event was a gathering of backward communities rather than an AHINDA convention, and dismissed talk of differences within AHINDA.

Turning to the ED searches, Mr. Jarkiholi said he would appear before the agency and respond to its queries once a notice is served. He declined to discuss with the media questions about alleged commissions from Central government projects and investments abroad, saying he would offer his explanations to the agency instead. He alleged the searches were politically motivated, claiming no such action had been taken against BJP leaders or those of its allies anywhere in the country over the past 14 years. The searches had not affected him psychologically, he said, and he would face the matter politically.