By B D Narayankar 

Bengaluru, June 5

DK Shivakumar has climbed the mountain he spent years trying to scale. The oath has been taken, the celebrations have been held and the Congress has finally settled the question of succession in Karnataka. But if politics teaches anything, it is that winning power is often easier than wielding it.

The new Chief Minister enters office with a formidable reputation — as the Congress's chief troubleshooter, a relentless organiser and a leader who survived enough political storms to earn a place among the party's most influential regional satraps. Yet the challenges before him are unlike any he has faced before.
For one, he inherits power without inheriting complete control.

Though Siddaramaiah has vacated the Chief Minister's chair, his political presence continues to occupy considerable space in the corridors of power. Many members of the new cabinet owe their rise to the veteran leader and remain part of his political ecosystem. The transfer of office may be complete; the transfer of influence is another matter altogether.

The Congress leadership has presented the transition as seamless. Karnataka's political history suggests otherwise. Rivalries in Indian politics rarely end with a handshake and a photograph. They merely become more sophisticated.
Shivakumar's first task, therefore, is not defeating the Opposition but ensuring that the ruling party remains united behind him.

Then comes the caste survey — perhaps the most politically combustible file awaiting the new Chief Minister.
Accepted by the Siddaramaiah government in its final days, the survey has reopened old debates on representation, reservation and political power. Every community sees in it either an opportunity or a threat. Any decision on its implementation is likely to create winners and losers, making it a test not merely of governance but of political nerve.

For the Congress, the issue carries additional weight. A party that champions a caste census nationally can scarcely afford to look hesitant when confronted with the consequences of one in a state where it is in power.
If the caste survey is a political minefield, Bengaluru is an administrative one.

India's technology capital continues to struggle with traffic congestion, strained infrastructure and the familiar complaint that growth has outpaced planning.

Shivakumar, who has long projected himself as a builder and developer, will find that voters are less impressed by promises than by roads that work, drains that do not overflow and commutes that do not consume half a day.
The upcoming elections to the Greater Bengaluru Authority will offer the first tangible measure of public confidence in the new administration.

Yet all these challenges are merely chapters in a larger story.
The Congress did not elevate Shivakumar solely to manage a government. It elevated him to win an election.
Karnataka has not developed a habit of rewarding incumbents. For nearly four decades, voters have alternated between parties with remarkable consistency. Breaking that pattern and securing a second successive term for the Congress in 2028 remains the real prize.

That objective explains much of the political arithmetic behind the transition. Shivakumar is expected to consolidate Vokkaliga support while retaining the broader coalition of backward classes, Dalits and minorities that powered the Congress to victory in 2023. It is a balancing act easier described than accomplished.

There is an old truth in politics: ambition gets a leader to the top, performance keeps him there.
For years, Shivakumar's story was about the struggle to become Chief Minister. Beginning this week, it becomes a story about something more difficult — whether he can govern effectively, manage competing centres of power and persuade Karnataka's voters to give the Congress something they have denied every government for decades: a second chance.

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