Siddaramaiah to retain CM bungalow; why he loves to stay in 'Cauvery'

Siddaramaiah, the outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister, will continue to reside at the CM’s official residence ‘Cauvery’ in Bengaluru as the veteran Congress leader considers it lucky.

DK Shivakumar will take oath as the new Karnataka Chief Minister on Wednesday (June 3) at Lok Bhavan. However, he will not move to Cauvery after assuming office and will continue to reside at his private residence, local reports said on Tuesday.

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According to reports, an understanding has been reached to allow Siddaramaiah to remain in Cauvery until the current Congress government completes its term in 2028.

Why Siddaramaiah prefers Cauvery

Once considered jinxed by political leaders, Cauvery turned out to be lucky when Siddaramaiah started residing there. When he first became the Chief Minister in 2013, he moved into Cauvery and stayed there till he completed his term in 2018. Initially, he was also reluctant to move into the government bungalow, but later heeded police advice, who cited security reasons.

The very fact that Siddaramaiah became only the second Chief Minister of Karnataka after Devaraj Urs (1972-77) to complete a full term made him stick to the “lucky” Cauvery bungalow.

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In 2018, after the Congress lost power, Siddaramaiah continued to stay at Cauvery after getting the home allotted to Congress Minister KJ George when the grand old party and JD(S) formed a coalition government with HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister to keep the BJP out of power.

When Siddaramaiah was served notice to vacate Cauvery

After the 14-month Congress-JD(S) government lost power in July 2019, BJP leader and then Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was keen to move into Cauvery. In January 2020, Siddaramaiah was served a notice and asked to vacate the residence, which he did.

This is not the first time a former Chief Minister has continued to reside in Cauvery. In 2021, after stepping down as CM, Yediyurappa remained in the government bungalow.

As per rules, after demitting office, Chief Ministers are allowed to stay at the official residence up to six months.

Reports said that, like in 2018, the government is likely to allot Cauvery to a minister and Siddaramaiah will stay there. His son and MLC Yathindra may be made a minister in Shivakumar’s Cabinet and may get Cauvery allotted to his name.