Persistent Crisis? Dial DKS: When Facing Trouble, Why Shivakumar Is Congress's Last 'Resort' - News18

Be it “sickness or in health”, DK Shivakumar has for long been Congress’s trusted lieutenant and troubleshooter. He has consistently been the Congress’s go-to man to thwart alleged poaching attempts by the BJP in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Goa, earning him the title of the party high command’s ultimate “resort.” In 2002, during a no-confidence motion against Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress, Shivakumar hosted the entire contingent of the party’s state legislators at a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru. In 2017, when Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel contested for a Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat with the BJP looking to outmanoeuvre him in Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s home state, the Congress, wary of poaching attempts, sought Shivakumar’s help to gather 44 state MLAs at a Bengaluru golf resort. As these 13 Congress rebel legislators announced their resignation from the Karnataka legislative assembly, the Congress high command turned one again to its last “resort”, both literally and figuratively. While assuming the role of Congress’s Karnataka unit chief in 2020, Shivakumar’s affidavit said no criminal charges had been framed against him or convictions to date.