India

Congress Sources: Siddaramaiah To Be Karnataka CM, Shivakumar His Deputy; Swearing-In On May 20

Siddaramaiah will be the new chief minister of Karnataka, with DK Shivakumar as his deputy, according to Congress sources on Thursday, after the party reached an agreement on government formation in the state following frantic negotiations.

According to sources, the swearing-in event will take place on May 20 at around noon in Bengaluru.

They said that Congress chairman Mallikarjun Kharge and other stakeholders met into midnight to try to reach an agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the two chief ministerial hopefuls.

“It has been decided by consensus that Siddaramaiah will be the next chief minister and Shivakumar will be the deputy chief minister,” a Congress source said.
Sources said the party leadership also decided to have around 20-25 new ministers.

Shivakumar, the state unit president of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP), has summoned a meeting in Bengaluru on Thursday evening. The decision will be made there.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president has written to all legislators, inviting them to a gathering of newly-elected MLAs, MLCs, and MPs on Queen’s Road at 7 p.m.

Sources close to Shivakumar said he decided to make the “sacrifice” and agreed to be deputy chief minister in the interest of the party.

Hectic meetings were held on Wednesday to break the deadlock in deciding on the Congress’ chief ministerial pick in Karnataka, with both candidates presenting their cases before the party’s senior brass, despite the party’s assertion that a resolution is imminent within a day or two.

Both Shivakumar and Siddaramiah had been camped in Delhi and had met with the party’s high hierarchy multiple times.

Sources said Shivakumar finally agreed to be deputy CM after holding late night parleys with Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal and AICC general secretary in-charge of state Randeep Surjewala.

Surjewala and Venugopal had met Kharge and held detailed discussions on Wednesday evening.

Siddaramaiah, 75, was Karnataka CM from 2012 to 2018. Shivakumar, 61, has been a minister in the state and is currently the Karnataka Congress chief.

In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory by bagging 135 seats while the ruling BJP and the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.

Also read: Arjun Ram Meghwal Replaces Kiren Rijiju As The Law Minister

 

Shruti Chaturvedi

Recent Posts

J&K All-Party Meet Backs Centre, Lauds Kashmiris For Supporting Tourists After Pahalgam Terror Attack

An all-party meeting held in Srinagar on Thursday passed a resolution extending full support to…

44 mins ago

Mukesh Ambani Condemns Pahalgam Terror Attack; Offers Free Treatment To Victims

Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director  Mukesh  Ambani on Thursday denounced the 22 April terrorist attack…

2 hours ago

Israel Condemns Pahalgam Terror Attack; Offers Support To India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, following Tuesday’s terror attack in…

2 hours ago

PM Modi Condemns Pahalgam Terror Attack; Vows Unprecedented Action Against Perpetrators

PM Narendra Modi has expressed deep sorrow over the brutal killing of 26 innocent civilians…

2 hours ago

Pahalgam Terror Attack: Shah And Jaishankar Update President Murmu, Foreign Envoys Briefed At MEA Headquarters

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar briefed President Droupadi Murmu…

3 hours ago

India Scales Down Attari Retreat Ceremony After Pahalgam Terror Attack

India has scaled down the daily Retreat Ceremony at the Attari border. This follows the…

3 hours ago