Karnataka’s next CM announced: Congress elects Siddaramaiah as new state leader

Following four days of high-level meetings, India’s Congress party seems to have established a consensus about who will be leading the party’s government in the Indian state of Karnataka. A Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting was held in Bengaluru Thursday evening in which it was decided that Siddaramaiah will become the state’s next chief minister and D K Shivakumar will serve as his deputy. Karnataka went into polls on May 10, and Congress party emerged victorious in the results declared on May 13.

Oath-taking ceremony to be held on May 20

Right one week after the results were declared on May 13, the oath-taking ceremony of the upcoming cabinet will be held on May 20. Several non-Congress CMs from other opposition parties are expected to attend the event, along with top national Congress leaders.

An official invitation has already been extended to Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, as per a report by Times of India.

How did Congress overcome the leadership challenge in Karnataka?

Congress Legislature Party held in Bengaluru on May 14 failed to yield any result, which prompted the party to ask party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to make the tough decision. Then, Kharge appointed three observers to conduct a secret ballot and considered the views of every Congress MLA. Following the hectic process, the decision was made to choose Siddaramaiah as the next Congress state leader and the upcoming Chief Minister.

Siddaramaiah backed by Congress high command

It is believed that Siddaramaiah enjoys backing from senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi, along with general secretary KC Venugopal, state in-charge Randeep Surjewala and a host of other top leaders were seen scurrying to Kharge’s residence over the past two days to offer their suggestions and recommendations.

Siddaramaiah also travelled to Delhi and met with numerous influential people to bolster his case. Shivakumar arrived in the city a day after Siddaramaiah insisted that the position of CM belonged to him, while frequently emphasising that the party had won 135 seats under his watch.

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