'Never Said High Command Is Unhappy With Him': Siddaramaiah On Shivakumar's Chances As Congress CM Face

Siddaramaiah said that he had been misquoted as saying in an interview that DK Shivakumar would not be made the CM as the party high command was unhappy with the Karnataka Congress president.

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Tuesday reiterated that both he and Congress president DK Shivakumar were contenders for the chief minister's post. He was reacting to questions over an interview that sparked another debate on  whether the Congress high command would pick DK Shivakumar over him for the top post.

On Monday, he appeared in an interview on NDTV where he was asked if he would accept the Congress brass's decision if it selected Shivakumar to be the CM. He responded, saying: "That won't happen because you have to go through a democratic process. The high command won't take a decision on its own. It will go by the opinion of the newly elected MLAs."

Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said this comment was misinterpreted and he was misquoted as saying that high command was unhappy with Shivakumar and he won't be made the CM.

"I gave interview yesterday where I said that I'm an aspirant for the CM's post. DK Shivakumar is also an aspirant. Our aim is to defeat BJP and bring Congress to power. My statement was misinterpreted. I never said that the high command isn't happy with DK Shivakumar," he said on Tuesday.

Echoing his views, Shivakumar said: "Our aim is to bring Congress back to power in Karnataka. We will bring good governance to the state. We all stand together."

The two have been locked in an intense cold battle for a long time. With the Karnataka elections nearing, the race for the CM's post  within the Congress has intensified. The ABP-CVoter projected has projected a clear win for the Congress, with Siddaramaiah emerging as the top choice for the post, surpassing even BJP candidates. With this being Siddaramaiah's last election, the party will have a tough choice to make between him and Shivakumar.

Siddaramaiah's son Yatindra last week said he wants to see his father take up the mantle of Karnataka's chief minister. 

The Congress has, however, denied any claims of rift. The elevation of Mallikarjun Kharge, who is from Karnataka, to the post of Congress president seems to have played a role in reining in differences between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to some extent. It remains to be seen whether Congress will hand Siddramaiah the torch for CM for one last time, or pick state party president Shivakumar over him.