Bengaluru: A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Thursday formally elected Siddaramaiah as its leader and chief minister of Karnataka, following which he staked his claim with the Governor, who invited him to form the government. The grand old party also decided that D.K. Shivakumar would be his only deputy.
The meeting of newly elected Congress MLAs, MLCs and MPs, which took place at Indira Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru, was also attended by AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and two other central observers—former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh.
Karnataka’s next Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his prospective deputy DK Shivakumar were given a rousing welcome as they reached Bengaluru on Thursday evening. The two leaders were seen smiling, keeping up the united face after 3 am breakthrough.
Sources said there is a rough understanding of a 50:50 power sharing, under which Mr Shivakumar can succeed Mr Siddaramaiah in the top post halfway through the term.
The five-day impasse over the top post was resolved after intervention by Congress’s former president Sonia Gandhi, and DK Shivakumar was persuaded to accept the post of Mr Siddaramaiah’s deputy. In addition, he would also have the control of the party and get his pick of six ministries.
The Congress has slammed BJP allegations of chaos in the party, saying they believe in “consensus, not dictatorship”. The BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai had alleged that the five-day public deadlock over the top post showed a “lack of unity” in the Congress.
The question of Chief Ministership and cohesion in the party is crucial for the Congress in the run-up to the general elections next year. While Mr Shivakumar has a following among the politically crucial Vokkaliga community, Siddaramaiah has the support of the AHINDA platform — an old social combination of minorities, Other Backward Classes, and Dalits, which had overwhelmingly supported the Congress.
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