BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: The Congress high command is faced with a daunting task to choose between former chief minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president DK Shivakumar as the new chief minister of Karnataka.
Sources privy to the happenings in Delhi said on Monday night that Siddaramiah was the likely CM. They said a decision had been taken and that an announcement would soon be made after holding discussions with Shivakumar, who had cancelled his Delhi visit on Monday citing ill-health.
However, the scene changed drastically on Tuesday with the arrival of Shivakumar in the national capital.
Both the leaders were adamant throughout the day and refused to back down from staking their respective claims for the top post.
The race for the top post heated up after Shivakumar reached Kharge’s residence in New Delhi a little after 5 pm and held talks with him for 30 minutes. Soon after Shivakumar’s departure, Siddaramaiah arrived at Kharge’s residence, and the two leaders held discussions for nearly an hour.
Sources said that Kharge sought opinions from both the leaders on their choices and the formation of the government. According to senior leaders, Shivakumar made a fresh push for the CM post during his meeting with Kharge, citing several reasons to validate his claim.
While he maintained that he rebuilt the party in the state, he also held Siddaramaiah responsible for the collapse of the government in 2019 when Congress ran a coalition with JDS. According to sources, he is said to have told Kharge that he would settle for nothing less than the CM’s post.
The secret ballot conducted in Bengaluru on Sunday night was also shown to both leaders. Siddaramaiah enjoys the support of a majority of newly-elected Congress MLAs.
Kharge likely to meet more MLAs to thrash out a compromise formula
According to sources in the know, at least 35 MLAs in the secret ballot had chosen to leave the decision on the chief minister choice to the party high command. The Congress high Command appears to be bidding for more time to placate Shivakumar to thwart any dissent within the party. Kharge on Wednesday is likely to meet more MLAs and stakeholders to thrash out a compromise formula.
Though the leadership has floated the idea of ‘rotational CM’, it is learnt that both the leaders are against it and are looking at a full five-year term. The day witnessed high-pitched political activities involving a series of meetings held at Kharge’s residence in the capital. The first meeting of the day was kicked off with former Congress President Rahul Gandhi getting into a huddle with Kharge, AICC leaders KC Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala.
It was learnt that Rahul Gandhi put the onus on Karnataka’s Congress stalwart Kharge to pick between the two leaders as the CM. It may be interesting to note here that Shivakumar shares a good rapport with AI CC chief Kharge and had even claimed just before the assembly polls that he would be happy to work under Kharge as the CM.
While the Congress is wrestling with many challenges, the top leadership itself is divided in picking the chief minister choice. According to sources, while Sonia Gandhi — who is resting in Shimla — is said to be in favour of Shivakumar, Rahul Gandhi wants a better representation of Dalits, women, and backward classes in the state, whose clout Siddaramaiah enjoys.
The party high command is faced with weighing various caste permutations and combinations as it does not want to upset the applecart in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, especial after Congress won a thumping victory at the recently conducted assembly polls wherein the party won 135 seats in the 224-member house. Whi le Siddharamaiah is largely viewed as a champion of social justice with pan-Karnataka appeal, Shivakumar enjoys popularity in urban pockets.
Rahul asks Kharge to take call
The day began with Rahul Gandhi getting into a huddle with Kharge, AICC leaders K C Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala. It is learnt that Rahul put the onus on Kharge to take the call on CM-ship