DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah To Be In Delhi Today; Kharge To Pick Karnataka CM

Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, two main contenders for Karnataka’s next chief minister, are expected to be in New Delhi on Monday, a day after the state Congress passed a unanimous resolution authorising the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the CM.

The swearing-in for the chief minister will be held on May 18, to which all like-minded parties will be invited.

Top points on the Karnataka election 2023 and next CM:

1. The meeting of Mallikarjun Kharge with former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar comes on the latter’s birthday (May 15). On Sunday night, Shivakumar tweeted a picture celebrating his birthday with Siddaramaiah and his other party colleagues. “My life is dedicated to serving the people of Karnataka. On the eve of my birthday, the people of Karnataka gave me the best birthday gift possible. Thanks to my Congress family for their warm greetings,” Shivakumar tweeted.

2. With the ball now in Kharge’s court, the top contenders are also expected to meet Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the national capital.

3. On Sunday evening, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru, passed a one-line resolution authorising Kharge to pick its leader, who will be the next chief minister of Karnataka. The CLP meeting was attended by AICC general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and three central observers.

4. Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Karnataka, later said Kharge will not take long and announce the name of the next chief minister of Karnataka soon. The meeting, which started late on Sunday night, continued till 1.30 am. It was attended by all 135 newly elected MLAs.

5. Former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and party leaders Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria were present in the meeting as observers. Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and others also attended the meeting.

6. When asked if there were any gifts being planned for Siddaramaiah or DK Shivakumar on the latter’s birthday, Surjewala said, “I am not a party to those discussions as general secretary. I am a simple worker to the Congress who stood out with all my legislatures. We were sitting together and planning the future of Karnataka which is more important to us. We also celebrated DK Shivakumar’s birthday together.”

7. Earlier, a large number of supporters gathered outside the residence of DK Shivakumar in Bengaluru on Sunday and raised slogans of “We want DK Shivakumar as CM”.

8. Sushil Kumar Shinde and party leaders Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria were present in the meeting as observers. Party leaders like Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and others also attended the meeting.

9. A legislator told HT that even though several formulas were on the table, including the idea of splitting the five-year term between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, these were not mentioned at the meeting.

10. In the May 10 elections to the 224-member assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory with 135 seats, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19, respectively.