Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah appears to have an edge over Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar in the race for the top spot of Chief Minister after the Congress secured an impressive in the state election last week. More newly-elected MLAs at Congress Legislature Party (CLP) favoured Siddaramaiah than Shivakumar, sources said. At the CLP meeting at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, the observers met all the MLAs separately and recorded their views.
Notably, Siddaramaiah is headed to Delhi today to meet the senior Congress leadership while DK Shivakumar, who met the Congress observers before they flew back, said that he will not be going to the national capital. Former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and party leaders Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria were present in the meeting as observers.
"We have passed a one-line resolution. We will leave it to the party's high command. I have not decided to go to Delhi," DK Shivakumar told the media. He added that he was ready for whatever responsibility he gets.
The CLP meeting was convened MLAs unanimously passed a resolution authorising party president Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the name of the Karnataka Chief Minister. The meeting which started late on Sunday night at a hotel in Bengaluru, continued till 1.30 am. It was attended by all 135 newly elected MLAs.
Karnataka CM News: Dalit, Minority, Tribal, And OBC MLAs Expressed Preference For Siddaramaiah
The process of taking the opinion of the MLAs went on till late at night, in which many MLAs separately recorded their views with the observers. Sources told ABP News that Siddaramaiah has the edge in the views expressed by MLAs.
Among the newly-elected legislators, several Dalit, minority, tribal, and OBC MLAs expressed a preference for Siddaramaiah while many MLAs also left the decision to Congress's high command.
After going through the supervisors' report, Kharge will hold a discussion with the Gandhi family to reach a decision on who gets the top post.
Following the Congress party's landslide victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections, the supporters of party leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivkumar put up posters in the state demanding their leader be declared the state Chief Minister.
In the last week's assembly polls, the Congress won 135 seats and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 66 seats while Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) won only 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one seat each.