Karnataka Minister for Minor Irrigation Ajay Singh on Friday, 18 September 2026, asserted that the removal of a nine-foot statue of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from High Court Circle in Kalaburagi was a procedural action and carried no political motive. The statue, installed overnight by supporters without the required permissions, was taken down by the Kalaburagi City Corporation on Thursday amid tight police security.

What Happened

Supporters of Siddaramaiah — reportedly including members of the Kuruba community — erected a nine-foot statue at High Court Circle in Kalaburagi overnight, without obtaining clearance from the district administration or the city corporation. Around eight to ten people were reportedly involved in the installation. The group had also been demanding that the High Court Circle be named after Siddaramaiah.

Officials from the Kalaburagi City Corporation subsequently removed the statue on Thursday after confirming that mandatory permissions had not been secured. Police were deployed at the site to prevent any law-and-order disruption during the removal.

What the Minister Said

Speaking to reporters, Ajay Singh said, 'There are rules for installing any statue. The Siddaramaiah statue was removed for this reason. There is no connection between Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar's visit to Kalaburagi and the removal of the statue.'

Singh, who hails from Kalaburagi district and is the son of former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, added that neither Siddaramaiah nor Shivakumar had prior knowledge of the statue's installation. He said Shivakumar had 'repeatedly maintained that Siddaramaiah was their leader' and dismissed speculation linking the removal to the Chief Minister's visit to the district.

The Timing Controversy

The statue's installation drew attention partly because it was placed along the route taken by Chief Minister Shivakumar during his visit to Kalaburagi and his onward journey to the Ganagapura temple. The timing fuelled public speculation about whether the removal was politically motivated, particularly given the well-documented tensions within the ruling Indian National Congress (Congress) government in Karnataka between the Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar camps.

Officials, however, maintained that the action was taken solely on grounds of procedural non-compliance.

A Recurring Pattern

Notably, this is not the first time a Siddaramaiah statue has been removed from the same location. According to officials, the same group had reportedly installed a statue of the former Chief Minister at High Court Circle approximately three years ago, which authorities also removed at the time for similar reasons. The recurrence raises questions about whether the supporters' demand for naming the circle after Siddaramaiah will escalate further.

What Comes Next

With the Congress government in Karnataka navigating a delicate internal power balance, incidents like this — even when officially framed as procedural — tend to keep factional undercurrents in public focus. Whether the supporter group seeks formal permission to reinstall the statue or presses its demand for renaming the circle remains to be seen.