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Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah as Congress CM face? BJP minister says 'There is no…'
Elections for the 224-member Karnataka legislative assembly will be held on May 10 and the counting of votes on May 13.
The speculations over Congress's chief ministerial candidate for Karnataka assembly elections have intensified despite the party high command’s directive to not project anyone as the CM face ahead of the polls. While former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Congress state unit chief DK Shivakumar are the frontrunners in the chief ministerial race, Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said they can never become the chief minister as the party won't cross the majority mark. (Also Read | Karnataka polls: With BJP list still not out, Congress asks ‘Does Nadda think…’)
When asked about Congress's reluctance for announcing the CM candidate, Joshi said, “For that, the Congress party needs to come to power.”
“Who will be the chief minister (between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah) is not even an issue for me and the people of Karnataka. I don't understand why are you asking me this question, because Congress won't secure the majority. How can either Siddaramaiah or DK Shivakumar become the chief minister? There is no question of them becoming the CM,” Joshi asserted.
The Congress party has already announced its candidates for 166 assembly seats in the 224-member Karnataka legislative assembly while the BJP has not declared its candidate for any seat. Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala on Thursday attacked the BJP saying, "BJP has no faces to fight the elections. They are searching for candidates for the tickets, and we have evidence of that".
“Congress has announced most of the seats, but the BJP could not declare a single seat. I want to ask JP Nadda, why are you scared? Do JP Nadda, PM Modi, Amit Shah and CM Bommai think that announcement of seats will lead to issues in the party?” Surjewala said at a press briefing in New Delhi.
Karnataka health minister and BJP leader K Sudhakar hit back at Surjewala asking whether the Congress party is not confident enough as it is concerned about the BJP's list.
Speaking to ANI, Sudhakar said, "I would like to ask Surjewala, why he is so much bothered about our list. Are they not confident about their own members? Why are they waiting for our candidates list to be announced? It is a part of our strategy, and we know when to announce the candidates".
"Candidates are not important for us because our party is built on a strong cadre base," he added.
