CLP Unanimously Decides To Leave Selection Of Karnataka CM On Congress President Kharge

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has deputed Sushil Kumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh, and Deepak Babaria as observers for the election of the chief minister of Karnataka.

A day after Congress secured a sweeping mandate in Karnataka, the party is holding a meeting of its legislators to propose the name of next chief minister for the southern state. The CLP, during the meeting, decided that it will leave the decision to select next Karnataka CM on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. 

Ahead of the meeting, Kharge said the CLP will send its report to the party high command which will take its time to decide on the name of next Karnataka CM. Following the emphatic victory, the party has now shifted its focus on who will be the next chief minister of the state with two front-runners, DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. 

On Saturday, Congress won 135 of the 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly unseating the Bharatiya Janata Party which got 66 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) registered victory on 19 seats.

Both the eight-time MLA Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have made no secret of their ambition to become CM and had been involved in a game of political one-upmanship in the past.

All the newly elected MLAs have been instructed to come to Bengaluru for the meeting. 

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has deputed Sushil Kumar Shinde (former Maharashtra Chief Minister), Jitendra Singh (AICC GS), and Deepak Babaria (former AICC GS) as observers for the election of the chief minister of Karnataka.

Ahead of the meeting, supporters of both the camps, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, have erecetd posters demanding them to be the next CM of the state. 

According to sources, Congress is working out a formula to split the tenure of the Chief Minister between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. While Siddaramiah, a mass leader, may be made the CM for the first 2.5 years, DK Shivakumar will be handed the responsibility for the next 2.5 years.

If Siddaramaiah, who joined Congress after being expelled from JD(S), gets elected as the CLP leader, this will be his second stint as the Chief Minister of the party after having occupied the coveted post for five years between 2013-18. Shivakumar had served as Minister in Siddaramaiah's cabinet.