Deadlock ends: Siddaramaiah to be Karnataka CM, Shivakumar his deputy
What's the story
Four days after winning the Karnataka Assembly election, the Congress has finally chosen Siddaramaiah as the chief minister while the party's state chief DK Shivakumar will be his deputy.
A power-sharing arrangement on a rotational basis with two-and-a-half years for each leader as CM has been decided to bring both leaders on board.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Both contenders were lobbying for the state's top post after the Congress bagged 135 out of 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly elections, securing a comfortable victory.
After the win, the grand old party faced the challenge of keeping both leaders aboard as they command different sections of voters and newly-elected lawmakers, who could've dampened the party's victory margin by jumping ship.
Meeting
Ready to sacrifice: Shivakumar
A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has been scheduled for Saturday, which would set the stage for Siddaramaiah (75) to assume the CM's chair for the second time after his tenure from 2013 to 2018.
Per reports, after Siddaramaiah was chosen as the CM, Shivakumar said he was ready to sacrifice the top post for the party and the Gandhis.
Twitter Post
Banners come up outside Shivakumar's residence
#WATCH | Bengaluru: Banners put up outside the residence of Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar who has been named as the next Karnataka deputy CM
— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2023
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah to be Karnataka CM & Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar to be Deputy CM. Oath… pic.twitter.com/LCf6TmEFBP
Gandhi
Gandhi family won't take any decision: Rahul Gandhi to Kharge
Since Monday, both politicians have been camped in Delhi, where they met Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Reportedly, Rahul told Kharge on Wednesday that neither he nor any member of his family will decide on the CM issue.
A report earlier said that Rahul was supporting Siddaramaiah while Sonia Gandhi had close ties with Shivakumar, considered the major force behind Congress's victory.
Siddaramaiah
Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar shouldn't be CM: Vokkaliga MLA
Earlier, a senior Congress MLA from the Vokkaliga community claimed Siddaramaiah told him on Tuesday that the CM should be either him or a third person, but not his rival Shivakumar.
He claimed that Siddaramaiah said all surveys gave him the highest approval ratings, while Shivakumar got just 10%. Notably, Shivakumar is a Vokkaliga, which is a politically dominant community in Karnataka.