Congress picks troubleshooter DK Shivakumar as Karnataka's deputy CM. 10 points

After days of uncertainty, Congress has come to a decision on who would be the Karnataka's next chief minister. Siddaramaiah will hold the state's top position and Shivakumar will be the second-in-command.

Also read: DK Shivakumar gets ‘deputy+6 portfolios’ offer, Congress warns against speculation

The tallest Vokkaliga leader and a trusted lieutenant of the Gandhi family, Shivakumar is considered a ‘troubleshooter’ for Congress. Along with deputy chief minister post, reports suggest that he has also been offered six other portfolios. However, there has been no decision on the offer yet, sources familiar with the development said.

Here are top points on DK Shivakumar:

1. The staunch Congressman was born on May 15, 1962, in Kanakapura to Doddalahalli Kempe Gowda and Gauramma.
2. He started his political career as a student leader in the 1980s.
3. DK Shivakumar belongs to the Vokkaliga community, the second-most dominant community after Lingayats in Karnataka.
4. An eight-time MLA, Shivakumar was at the thick of things in Maharashtra in 2002 as the then Vilas Rao Deshmukh government won no-confidence motion.
5. He was also behind the victory of late Ahmad Patel in the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat 2017 as he huddled the Congress MLAs in the western state in a resort.
6. Several cases have been registered against him after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2018 booked him along with others in a money laundering case which alleged him of tax evasion and hawala dealings.
7. Later, a series of raids by Income Tax department followed.
8. In 2019, he was arrested by ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after an intense interrogation. He got bail on October 23, 2019. He was also booked under the anti-money laundering law in 2022.
9. Notably, he is the third richest among other candidates who registered their candidature for the 2023 Karnataka assembly election.
10. He contested his maiden election from Sathanur assembly seat when he was just 27 and after over three decades, he continued his winning streak in Kanakapura seat where he defeated six-time MLA from BJP R Ashoka.