Moreover, he is taking advantage of the rift between KPCC President G Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah,” said a highly placed source. According to the source, efforts are being made within the party to corner Siddaramaiah in the upcoming election.

If that plan works, Kharge would be staking his claim to head the party in Karnataka as he is senior most and tallest Dalit leader in the state.

Besides, Kharge reportedly enjoys good relation with other Dalit Congress leaders like H Anjaneya, K H Muniyappa, Dr G Pameshwar and Dr Mahadevappa and he played a major role in getting party tickets to the candidates loyal to these leaders.

“Moreover, the decreased clout of Energy Minister DK Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh – owing to many reasons – is a point of worry for Siddaramaiah. And the open support to Home Department’s adviser Kempaiah, who is close to the Chief Minister, has been curtailed.

All these developments will favour Kharge,” the source said. The 75-year-old Congress leader has won elections for a record 10 consecutive times, having won the assembly elections for an unprecedented 9 consecutive times (1972, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2009) and the recent Parliamentary elections from Gulbarga.

In 2004, he was considered a front-runner for the post of the chief minister of Karnataka. Later, he was made the Minister for Transport and Water Resources in the Dharam Singh-led coalition government.

“Kharge has been a chief minister-in-waiting for quite some time and post has eluded him many a time in the past. But this time he might seriously stake his claim,” said the source.