Siddaramaiah & Shivakumar meet Kharge

Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar met party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Delhi separately and discussed the modalities of government formation in the southern state. Shivakumar, who arrived in the national capital this morning from Bengaluru, reached Kharge's residence a little after 5 pm and held deliberations over the post of chief minister of Karnataka. He left after a 30-minute meeting and did not speak to the media. Soon after Shivakumar left, Siddaramaiah arrived at Kharge's residence at 10, Rajaji Marg after 6 pm, and the two leaders held discussions on the top post. On Monday, Shivakumar played hardball, putting off his visit to Delhi where the action is rife with deliberation with an array of proposals on the table. Confident that he has the numbers, Siddaramaiah reached Delhi Monday evening. Several MLAs who are known to be his close supporters, like M B Patil, R V Deshpande, Zameer Ahmed, K J George, Ashok Pattan and Byrathi Suresh, also reached Delhi to show support.

Series of meetings at Kharge's residence

Congress chief Mallikarjuna Kharge's residence has been the venue of a series of meetings that will eventually lead to the announcement of the next Karnataka CM. Kharge met the three observers sent by him and AICC in-charge of the state, Randeep Surjewala, on Monday. He also had a meeting with AICC general secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal. The observers — Sushil Kumar Shinde, AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh and former general secretary Deepak Babaria — conveyed to Kharge the outcome of the “secret ballot” that they conducted Sunday night among the MLAs in Bengaluru.

When is the formal announcement likely?

Although the Congress has indicated that the new CM will be sworn in by Thursday, a formal announcement will only be made after consulting Shivakumar, who is reported to have maintained that he should be given the CM’s post and nothing less. The party hopes to placate him, and various proposals are on the table for discussions with him.

Who are Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar?

Siddaramaiah is the former Karnataka CM and a mass leader with support spread across constituencies in Karnataka. However, this eight-time MLA has struggled in recent times to find a safe seat for himself, where rivalries between Kurubas (the community he belongs to) and communities such as Vokkaligas, tribal Valmikis, and Dalits do not boost his prospects. He is the front runner for the CM post. It was DK Shivakumar's heads-down approach to tactics and strategy that largely paid off for the Congress in the recent Assembly polls. Shivakumar is also believed to have been at the heart of making decisions such as dissuading Siddaramaiah from contesting in two seats and picking several candidates against the preferences of other leaders.

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This is an archive article published on May 16, 2023

Race for Karnataka CM hots up as Kharge holds one-on-one meet with Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar

After Congress recorded a resounding win in the Karnataka Assembly polls bagging a total of 135 seats on May 13, the grand question of who will helm the state hangs in balance.

(From left to right): Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, KPCC President DK Shivkumar and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah address the media. (PTI/File)

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The dilemma of who the new Chief Minister of Karnataka will be persists for Congress, as the the first round of talks remain inconclusive. The verdict of who will bag the CM berth in the state cabinet is yet to be decided, even as party president Mallikarjuna Kharge today met both contenders, Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, individually. Another round of talks will be held with them tomorrow before the ultimate decision is made.

The race for chief ministerial berth is a close call between Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar and veteran Congress leader Siddaramaiah, as the deliberation of the last couple of days will be put to rest by the top brass of the grand old party shortly. After Congress recorded a resounding win in the Karnataka Assembly polls bagging a total of 135 seats on May 13, the grand question of who will helm the state hangs in balance.

Earlier in the day, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge held a closed-door meeting with Rahul Gandhi for almost an hour and a half with Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala (who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Karnataka), and AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal in attendance, on Monday. Subsequently, Kharge held one-on-one meeting with Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. While Siddaramaiah has emerged as the frontrunner, with majority of the newly elected MLAs learnt to have named him as their choice, Shivakumar signaled that it was time to reward him by reiterating that he had taken over the state party unit’s leadership at a difficult time and had delivered the state as promised to then Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Mallikarjun Kharge at a meeting following the Congress win in Karnataka Assembly election. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)

Here are the top five points you should know

01
Siddaramaiah & Shivakumar meet Kharge
Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar met party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Delhi separately and discussed the modalities of government formation in the southern state. Shivakumar, who arrived in the national capital this morning from Bengaluru, reached Kharge's residence a little after 5 pm and held deliberations over the post of chief minister of Karnataka. He left after a 30-minute meeting and did not speak to the media. Soon after Shivakumar left, Siddaramaiah arrived at Kharge's residence at 10, Rajaji Marg after 6 pm, and the two leaders held discussions on the top post.

On Monday, Shivakumar played hardball, putting off his visit to Delhi where the action is rife with deliberation with an array of proposals on the table. Confident that he has the numbers, Siddaramaiah reached Delhi Monday evening. Several MLAs who are known to be his close supporters, like M B Patil, R V Deshpande, Zameer Ahmed, K J George, Ashok Pattan and Byrathi Suresh, also reached Delhi to show support.
02
Series of meetings at Kharge's residence
Congress chief Mallikarjuna Kharge's residence has been the venue of a series of meetings that will eventually lead to the announcement of the next Karnataka CM. Kharge met the three observers sent by him and AICC in-charge of the state, Randeep Surjewala, on Monday. He also had a meeting with AICC general secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal. The observers — Sushil Kumar Shinde, AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh and former general secretary Deepak Babaria — conveyed to Kharge the outcome of the “secret ballot” that they conducted Sunday night among the MLAs in Bengaluru.
03
90 MLAs back Siddaramaiah as CM
Siddaramaiah has emerged as the frontrunner, with majority of the newly elected MLAs learnt to have named him as their choice, according state party sources.
04
When is the formal announcement likely?
Although the Congress has indicated that the new CM will be sworn in by Thursday, a formal announcement will only be made after consulting Shivakumar, who is reported to have maintained that he should be given the CM’s post and nothing less. The party hopes to placate him, and various proposals are on the table for discussions with him.
05
Who are Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar?
Siddaramaiah is the former Karnataka CM and a mass leader with support spread across constituencies in Karnataka. However, this eight-time MLA has struggled in recent times to find a safe seat for himself, where rivalries between Kurubas (the community he belongs to) and communities such as Vokkaligas, tribal Valmikis, and Dalits do not boost his prospects. He is the front runner for the CM post.

It was DK Shivakumar's heads-down approach to tactics and strategy that largely paid off for the Congress in the recent Assembly polls. Shivakumar is also believed to have been at the heart of making decisions such as dissuading Siddaramaiah from contesting in two seats and picking several candidates against the preferences of other leaders.