New Delhi: Will co-op apex bank polls see CM, DyCM face-off?
Congress legislator S Ravi on Friday filed his nomination papers for the Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank Limited’s elections for the board of directors.
Ravi’s entry into the fray has heightened speculations of the elections becoming an extension to the purported tussle of power between chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, that has generated intense speculation among the media and the state Congress unit’s internal circles, but has been roundly and repeatedly denied by the top leadership. Ravi is Shivakumar’s brother-in-law and represents Bengaluru in the legislative council.
On January 12, Siddaramaiah’s aide and former state minister KN Rajanna filed his own nomination papers in Tumakuru. Rajanna led the board twice earlier, from October 2001 to April 2005 and from August 2015 to September 2020.
The Apex Bank has 21 directors on board. The president will be elected based on majority votes by these directors.Due to certain legal hurdles, Kolar and Bagalkote districts will not be represented in the new composition. According to a Congress functionary, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the party currently has the support of 16 out of 19 remaining directors. The other three are Janata Dal (Secular) MLC Suraj Revanna, Belli Prakash (incumbent president) and KP Ganapathi, both from the BJP.
Scrutiny of the nomination papers filed for the 19 directors’ posts will be done on January 17 and election to the president’s post a fortnight after that, said officials in the know.
Another Congress functionary, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the composition of the nominations for directorial posts suggested a clear division between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar’s so-called “camps”. “For now, it looks as if Siddaramaiah’s supporters outnumber Shivakumar’s, but Shivakumar is known for his skills in managing elections and may pull off a surprise,” the functionary added.
On Friday, Ravi said chief minister Siddaramaiah and AICC general secretary with Karnataka’s charge Randeep Singh Surjewala reportedly assured him that he would be made the president after Belli Prakash’s term , which was due to end in November 2025 and was extended by Siddaramaiah.
However, in light of the state government reaching its halfway mark around November, which saw speculations about the internal leadership crisis heat up in the state, Rajanna became the chief minister’s choice for the post after Siddaramaiah was reportedly faced with demands to hand over the chief ministerial position to Shivakumar, as per a purported power sharing agreement between the two after the 2023 assembly elections, according to a Congress functionary. Rajanna currently serves as an MLA from Madhugiri in Tumakuru district. He was dismissed from the ministry in August 2025 on the directions of the Congress high command over his criticism of Rahul Gandhi’s anti- vote theft campaign .
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