Siddaramaiah has been named as the next chief minister of Karnataka while DK Shivakumar will be his deputy, HT has learnt. The Congress has decided on a rotational tenure of two-and-a-half years for both the leaders. The decision ends days of uncertainty after the grand old party had registered an emphatic victory in the southern state. The swearing-in of the new chief minister will be held in Bengaluru on May 20.
HT has learnt that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge arrived at the consensus for government formation shortly after midnight, this after hectic parleys held in the national capital over the past three days.
A Congress legislative party meeting has also been convened for May 20, setting stage for the 75-year-old Kuruba leader to become the CM for the second time. In the run-up to the big announcement, both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar had been holding their ground before the high command making it a tedious task to make the decision.
“There is nothing to tell...we have left it to the high command...High command will take the call. I'm going for rest”, Shivakumar, 61, the tallest Vokkaliga leader of the party in Karnataka, had said.
Earlier on Wednesday, HT had reported that Shivakumar had been offered the deputy chief minister along with six portfolios. However, Congress Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala had rejected the reports and urged the media against speculation.
Siddaramaiah, a grassroots leader who started his political career with the Janata Parivar, joined the Congress in 2006 after being ousted from HD Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular). He is only the second chief minister after Devraj Urs to have completed a full term of five years.
The anointment of the lawyer-turned-politician as the CM pick might not surprise many as he apparently had the support of 85 MLAs as per a report sent by the three Congress observers to the party high command.