Kharge to pick Karnataka CM; Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar to reach Delhi
After a landslide win in Karnataka, the Congress is now set to choose the chief minister. On Sunday, Karnataka's Congress Legislature Party (CLP) authorized Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the CM. Top contenders for the post—Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar—will reportedly reach Delhi on Monday. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pondering over the Leader of the Opposition and the deputy floor leader.
Why does this story matter?
The lobbying for the top post will be in full swing in Delhi. The Congress ousted the BJP in its best poll performance since 1999, bagging 135 of the 224 Karnataka Assembly seats. The grand old party reportedly managed to keep the differences between Siddaramaiah (75) and Shivakumar (61) camps at bay, which helped them to put up a united fight against the BJP.
Swearing-in ceremony to be held on Thursday
The CLP observers are expected to submit their reports to Kharge before Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar's expected arrival in Delhi at around 4:00 pm. Both leaders are scheduled to meet Kharge on Monday evening, following which the new CM is expected to be announced on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has accepted outgoing CM Basavaraj Bommai's resignation.
Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar camps batting for their leaders as CM
After the election results on Saturday, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Jitendra Singh, and former AICC General Secretary Deepak Babaria were deputed as observers for the election of the Karnataka CLP leader. During the CLP's first meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar's supporters sloganeered in support of their leaders for the CM post.
Bommai could be Leader of Opposition
Separately, the BJP is considering Bommai or former state minister R Ashoka as the Leader of the Opposition, as per The Times of India. Former ministers S Suresh Kumar, V Sunil Kumar, and Basanagouda Patil Yatnal are also in the fray for the post. Ashoka contested two seats in the election, in which he retained his constituency of Padmanabhanagar but lost in Kanakapura.
