An event to commemorate the centenary of a meeting between Mahatma Gandhi and Kerala’s social reformer and spiritual leader Narayana Guru, a champion of backward communities, would have usually passed off as just another socio-political event in Karnataka.
However, in the midst of an ongoing power tussle in the state between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, an OBC leader from the Kuruba group, and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, who belongs to the dominant Vokkaliga community, the event held in Mangaluru Wednesday to mark the Mahatma-Narayana Guru meeting assumed political significance as it was seen as a possible indicator of roadmap of state politics.
The event at Mangalore University’s Mangalagangothri campus in Konaje also seemed to be a show of strength of the backward communities.
Narayana Guru is revered by key backward groups like the Billavas/Idigas in the Dakshina Kannada region, bordering Kerala, as a social reformer who changed their status in society.
The function, organised by AICC leader and Karnataka MLC B K Hariprasad, one of the aspirants for a berth in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet, comes at a crucial juncture when a power transition seems to be underway. In neighbouring Kerala too, the Congress is looking to wrest power from the CPI(M) in the Assembly polls scheduled for April 2026.
Among the significant aspects of the event, which was seen to have the support of the central party leadership, was the presence of Siddaramaiah and the absence of Shivakumar. In attendance was the AICC general secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal – a close aide of Rahul Gandhi and a key player in the Congress’s moves in Karnataka and Kerala.
“This programme has been organised as part of an effort to once again remind the people about the life values preached by Narayana Guru,” Hariprasad said.
“Narayana Guru was one of the social reformers who had a profound influence in South India, especially in Kerala and Karnataka. He was a man of justice. A long exchange of ideas and dialogue took place between him
and Mahatma Gandhi on many issues, including the freedom struggle, social equality, and the fight against discrimination in 1925,” he added.
Pointer to power transition?
The event was seen as an inkling into the thinking of the Congress leadership on the roadmap for power transition in Karnataka. which is currently being forced by Shivakumar with his claim to the CM’s post.
The absence of Shivakumar from the event might have betrayed his weak standing among the backward communities, which form the bulwark of the party’s support in the state along with Dalits and minorities.
While both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have claimed that the issue of leadership change will be decided by the high command, with the CM saying his deputy will become CM when the high command decides, sources said Siddaramaiah will continue as the CM till the Kerala polls.
The Mangaluru event also signals the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle – which is being sought by Siddaramaiah but opposed by Shivakumar – as a possible first step in the transition of power before Siddaramaiah is given an honourable exit.
Siddaramaiah has in private comments to aspirants for Cabinet positions stated that “politics is not permanent” and “power is nobody’s ancestral property”, indicating a willingness to step down if directed by the Congress high command.
One of the possibilities being discussed in political circles is the entry of Hariprasad into the Cabinet as an OBC leader before the exit of Siddaramaiah to act as a counterfoil to Shivakumar’s non-OBC credentials and power play.
Incidentally, Siddaramaiah had a surprise breakfast meeting with Hariprasad a few months ago, suggesting the forging of an alliance after the latter had a falling out with Shivakumar. Hariprasad, who is also the AICC in charge of Haryana, is known as a staunch Gandhi family loyalist.
Even during the recent leadership crisis, Hariprasad met Rahul Gandhi but later dismissed the meeting as being part of his responsibilities as an AICC office-bearer. He also attended a breakfast meeting of Congress loyalists at minister and veteran Dalit leader K H Muniyappa’s residence.
“I am not a competent authority to speak on the issue (of leadership change). It is left to the wisdom of the party leadership. The situation at present is that things are going well,” Hariprasad had said in November when asked about any possible leadership change.
Earlier, Hariprasad had criticised Shivakumar when the latter sang some lines of the RSS anthem in the Assembly during the Monsoon Session.
The Wednesday event also reflected the Congress’s intent to stick to its backward-oriented agenda, which has been the foundation of its politics
since the 1970s, when former CM Devaraj Urs moved it away from reliance on the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities for political power.
A caste survey, which has been completed in the state, is also likely to be released before a power transition occurs in the state since Siddaramaiah has been a vocal advocate of social justice. Shivakumar and several other party leaders from the dominant communities were opposed to a similar caste survey conducted in 2015 during Siddaramaiah’s previous tenure as the CM.
Gandhi-Narayana Guru meet
Narayana Guru made a strong effort to bring about reforms against inequality and caste discrimination in the society in Kerala in the early 1900s by applying scientific perspectives and the principles of justice to religious thought. In March 1925, the attention of Mahatma Gandhi, who was staying in Vaikom, Kerala, to participate in the Vaikom satyagraha, was drawn to his reform movement.
Gandhi then met Narayana Guru at Vanajakshi Mantapa at Shivagiri Mutt and held a long discussion on various issues.
Religious harmony and tolerance were important aspects of Narayana Guru’s teachings. He had organised an all-faith conference in March 1924 at Aluva. “This Dharma conference is not for arguing and winning. It is for learning and informing,” he had then said.
On the Mangaluru event, held in collaboration with Shivagiri Math of Varkala and Sri Narayana Guru Study Centre of Mangalore University, Hariprasad said: “This is a critical time when it is imperative to strengthen equality, harmony and brotherhood among all religions.”
The event marks the “Centenary of the Historical Dialogue between Sri Narayana Guru and Mahatma Gandhi”, the centenary of the Guru’s Mahasamadhi and the centenary of the all faith conference “Sarvamat Sammelana”.