Karnataka Government Formation: The elections to the 224-member Karnataka assembly concluded on May 13 with Congress defeating the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) with a remarkable victory. It won 135 seats while BJP could only manage 66. However, what did not conclude with the results was the suspense in the entire Karnataka elections scenario as the party is still to decide who the Chief Minister of the southern state will be. Meanwhile, top Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal, B K Hariprasad, Dr Nasir Hussain, Deepak Babaria and others reached party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in Delhi to discuss the matter.
Karnataka Congress President and CM contender DK Shivakumar has meanwhile arrived in Delhi and will soon be meeting the party high command to discuss the issue at hand.
While leaving for Delhi earlier in the day, Shivakumar said he won't backstab or blackmail, adding that he doesn't want to divide anyone. He said, "Winning 20 seats (in Lok Sabha polls) is our next challenge...Ours is a united house, our number is 135 I don't want to divide anyone here. I am a responsible man...I will not backstab also and I will not blackmail also. I don't want to go to the wrong history, I don't want to go with a bad remark" The 61-year-old leader was expected to reach Delhi on Monday evening, but couldn't due to a stomach infection. He and Siddaramaiah, both frontrunners for the chief minister's post, were called by the Congress' central leadership to Delhi for discussions.
He also said that Sonia Gandhi is a role model for the leaders, adding "Congress is family for everyone. Our constitution is very much important, so we have to protect everyone's interest."
"We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it...A mother will give everything to her child," he further added.
Notably, Siddaramaiah is in Delhi since Monday. The three central observers of the Congress, who interacted with newly elected party MLAs on their choice for chief minister, briefed party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and submitted their report on Monday.
The Congress Legislature Party, which met at a hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday, had passed a unanimous resolution authorising Kharge to pick who the next chief minister of Karnataka will be.