Randeep Singh Surjewala on Karnataka CM selection: ‘Wanted a team of 11, not a team of one’

Asked whether the leadership has agreed on a term-sharing pact and whether Siddaramaiah would remain CM for five years, Surjewala said: “The only power-sharing formula is to serve as servants of Karnataka’s people.”

“Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are capable enough to be the chief minister. Unlike the BJP in Karnataka, the Congress has a range of leadership at all rungs, whose cumulative effort is the principal reason for its victory. The approach of (Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge was, and has always been, consensus, unanimity and unity. He held detailed deliberations over two-and-a-half days and finally arrived at a solution where both can participate in implementing the party’s development agenda,” Surjewala said.

Saying that Kharge was conversant with the intricacies of the state, he added: “Based on his own experience and knowledge of public life, and the fact that he has himself served the state for over five decades, he decided that both need to be given responsibility, instead of any one… so it is never an either/ or choice, but one where both contributed together. We wanted a team of 11, not a team of one, to run the state,” he said.

Incidentally, Kharge was denied the Karnataka CM’s post thrice earlier.

Asked about Shivakumar’s brother and Lok Sabha MP D K Suresh’s remarks that he was not entirely happy with the arrangement, Surjewala said: “That is D K Suresh’s opinion, and he is entitled to one. The Congress has the support of 138 legislators – 135 Congress MLAs, one from the Sarvodaya Party which is our ally, and the unconditional backing of two Independents. There is no reason why we won’t fulfill every single dream of the people of Karnataka and stand up to every promise we have made.”