Suspense ends as Congress announces Siddaramaiah as Karnataka's next CM

New Delhi: After several days of hectic parleys the Congress finally announced Siddaramaiah as Karnataka’s new chief minister and D.K. Shivakumar as deputy chief minister and who will also continue as the state unit president till the Parliament elections. The stalemate was broken after the direct intervention of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi after she assured Mr Shivakumar that his loyalty towards the party would not be forgotten. The deal was struck well after midnight on the intervening night of Wednesday-Thursday.

Announcing the decision taken by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after hectic parleys ever since the party emerged victorious on May 13, AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said all leaders, including the top leadership, worked very hard to make the Karnataka victory a reality. “We have decided on Siddaramiah as the chief minister of Karnataka. D.K. Shivakumar will be the only deputy CM,” he said. Mr Shivakumar will also continue as the Karnataka PCC president till the parliamentary elections are over, he said. At the same press conference, senior party leader and in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala said the Congress was committed to fulfil the five promises made during the election campaign and action would follow.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 20, at 12.30 pm. Apart from the CM and deputy CM, 20 Cabinet ministers will also be sworn in. The CLP meeting on Thursday evening has already selected Siddaramaiah as its leader. Congress leader G. Parmeshwara had met governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on behalf of the Congress and staked claim. Both the CM-desgnate and the deputy CM-designate will be back in New Delhi on Friday to discuss the Cabinet probables. A big invitation list has been drawn up for the swearing-in. All the Gandhis are expected to be there, as well as the Congress chief ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgrah and Himachal Pradesh. Invitations have also gone to Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, Telangana CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackerey, NC chief Farooq Abdullah, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.

Dispelling rumours, deputy CM-designate Shivakumar said: “Why should I be upset? There is a long way to go. When people have given such a big mandate, we should definitely be happy and fulfil the promises. That is our main motto, agenda… Everything is well and will be well.”

Ever since the Karnataka Assembly results were declared on May 13, both the leaders started garnering support of MLAs close to them while mustering support for themselves.

The supporters of both, meanwhile, started building up the momentum in support of their respective leaders and a poster war had erupted. As the race for the top post heated up, Mr Kharge appointed three observers -- Sushilkumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria -- and the first meeting of the Congress Legislature Party was convened on May 14. Supporters of both leaders continued to raise the pitch by raising slogans in support of their leaders outside the CLP meeting venue. All Congress MLAs authorised the party chief to appoint a leader of the Congress Legislature Party, who would also be the new chief minister. Then the action shifted to Delhi and after several rounds of meetings, including with Rahul Gandhi, a solution was finally reached after three days.