Ending days of suspense, the Congress today announced Siddaramaiah as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and D K Shivakumar as his only deputy in the soon-to-formed cabinet. Both the leaders expressed commitment towards working for the people of the state.
Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President, tweeted a picture of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge raising his and Siddaramaiah's hand in a show of unity and said, "Karnataka's secure future and our people's welfare is our top priority, and we are united in guaranteeing that."
The two leaders, who were in a tight race for the top post, would take oath along with other ministers on May 20. Hectic meetings were held on for the last couple of days to break the deadlock in deciding on the Congress's chief ministerial pick in Karnataka. Both contenders, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, did not shy away from expressing their case for the top post.
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DK Shivakumar has always been with the Congress and is known to have played a very important role in keeping afloat the Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government before it collapsed in 2019 after 17 MLAs from the two parties turned to the BJP.
After settling for the deputy chief minister post, Shivakumar said, "When people have given such a big mandate, we should definitely be happy and deliver and fulfill the promises. That is our main motto, agenda." "Why should I be upset? There is a long way to go," he further said. According to reports, he refused to take back his claim for the post till late last night, when Sonia Gandhi spoke to him.
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When asked to comment on reports that he may resign from the party if not given the chief minister's post, he said the party is his mother and there was no question of his resigning from the organisation. "If any channel is reporting that I am resigning from the post, I will file a defamation case against them...," he said.
Meanwhile, reports had emerged ahead of the announcement of a possible power-sharing formula between the two frontrunners. The Congress however said, "Power sharing means sharing power with the people of Karnataka… that is all."
In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory by bagging 135 seats, while the ruling BJP and the former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats respectively.
(With inputs from PTI)
