It is virtually certain that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would be the hot favorite to lead the Congress if it wins the Karantaka Assembly elections slated for early next year. During the 75th birthday celebrations of the popular leader, Rahul Gandhi, during a massive rally to mark the occasion at Davanagere, provided enough indications that he was fully behind Siddaramaiah. He said that he was a tall leader with a massive following and was a friend who always worked to strengthen the party. Rahul endorsed his leadership abilities sending a strong signal that he could be the ultimate choice of the Central Leadership. Realising that he had been outsmarted, the PCC president, D.K.Shiva Kumar tried to play down the impression, when he said that the polls would be contested under the collective leadership of all senior leaders. Siddaramaiah too chose the occasion to compliment Shiva Kumar for his role and said that there were no differences between him and the PCC Chief. This is contrary to the recent interviews by Shiva Kumar where he has pitched himself to be the probable for the CMship in the event the Congress was victorious. Political analysts in the State where the Congress has the best chance of coming to power, have dismissed this new found mutual admiration by Siddaramaiah and Shiva Kumar as not only deceptive but something which would take a confrontational turn after the declaration of results. Although both the leaders are maintaining that the High Command would have the final word after the elected MLAs express their preference, it is a foregone conclusion that the Gandhis would back the former CM, given his support base and because of the fact that his birthday rally was perhaps the biggest meeting held in the State for a long long time. The Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has also been viewing the developments with keen interest, and believes that if Rahul takes over as the party Chief before the polls in the Southern State, he may get the credit for victory. The Congress optimism is also based on the dissatisfaction amongst the BJP’s rank and file over the current CM, Basavaraj Bommai’s style of functioning. A section of the party and the RSS want a leadership change and Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit two days ago was to take stock of the situation and apprise the Prime Minister regarding the sentiments of the cadres. The BJP is in a dilemma on whether they should replace Bommai, who was former CM, Yeddyurappa’s nominee with a tall Lingayat leader or a backward to counter Siddaramaiah’s immense influence. Significantly while the spot light in the Congress has been on Siddaramaiah and Shiva Kumar, senior leader Veerapa Moily has suggested the name of SR Patil, a veteran politician belonging to the Lingayat community. However, there have been conjectures in the Congress that a Lingayat should be made the PCC president to supplement Siddaramaiah’s efforts but this is unlikely to happen since it would lead to an open revolt by Shiva Kumar, which the Congress cannot afford to witness at this juncture. On the BJP front, it would be known in the next fortnight whether it would be Bommai who would be the spearhead of the campaign or would Prime Minister Narendra Modi entrust the responsibility to a more seasoned politician such as Jagadish Shettar. Interesting times are there in the State where politics is in an extremely fluid state.