The Congress party high command, it was learnt has finally chosen Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after hectic talks with newly elected MLAs and the party leaders spanning over three days but the state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said no decision was taken yet and the announcement will be made later in the evening or tomorrow.
As the suspense over the naming of the next Karnataka Chief Minister continued on Wednesday, Surjewala said that "deliberations are still on and the next chief ministerial candidate will be announced today or tomorrow".
Speaking to the media outside Kharge's residence, where Shivakumar had come to meet the party president for the second time in two days, Surjewala, who is also the Karnataka Congress in-charge, said: "Deliberations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever the party takes a decision, we will inform you. In the next 72 hours, there will be a new Cabinet in Karnataka."
He also urged the media not to speculate or spread rumours and stay away from fake news. "Don't pay heed to fake information and rumours being spread by the BJP," he said.
Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Surjewala said the party takes around 10-15 days to decide on the chief ministerial post, "but here, the Congress president is holding deliberations to select the new chief minister".
Earlier on Wednesday, Shivakumar had met Rahul Gandhi for over an hour. Siddaramaiah also met the former Congress president. On Tuesday evening, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had also met Kharge separately.
The Congress president till now has not made any announcement regarding the new Chief Minister in Karnataka. However, it has been learnt that many people are in favour of Siddaramaiah for the top post.
Kharge is likely to make an announcement about the new Karnataka chief minister on Wednesday or Thursday after discussing the observers' report with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
The main contenders are Siddaramaiah and KPCC president DK Shivakumar, both in New Delhi meeting the top party leaders and the decision will be taken later today taking into view the pros and cons of each of the two, who led Karnataka poll campaign together without showing any differences throughout.
Former minister and senior Congress Dalit leader H.C. Mahadevappa, a close associate of Siddaramaiah, stated that there was no proposal of power sharing. The two and three-year term proposal for Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar was just hearsay.
"There are many aspirants for the post of CM, but only one can be made as the CM. The high command has decided this after analyzing all factors," he said.
"Siddaramaiah was chosen after thorough analysis of the present political scenario. Shivakumar's aspiration to become CM is not wrong. The clean image of Siddaramaiah had helped the people to trust the Congress party," he added. However, an official confirmation is yet to come.
Shivakumar steered party to victory
KPCC president DK Shivakumar, who told media four months ago that he was expecting 136 seats for Congress in the Assembly elections, handed over 135 seats while the 136th seat was missed after repeated re-counting and the case going to the court now for Jayanagara seat in Bengaluru.
After the poll verdict, Siddaramaiah had arrived in the national capital on Monday afternoon by a special flight and on Tuesday evening, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held meeting with Kharge.
Before Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar, who reached the capital on Tuesday, had met Kharge at his residence, after cancelling his Monday trip due to stomach infection.
On Tuesday afternoon, Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala held a long discussion with the party chief to decide on the new Karnataka chief minister. The meeting of the senior Congress leaders lasted for over one and half hours.
On Monday, all the three observers submitted their report to Kharge and the meeting of the party leaders lasted for over five hours.
Majority MLAs with Siddaramaiah
Sources said that despite Siddaramaiah getting the majority during the secret ballot, Shivakumar claimed that he had delivered the victory to the party and hence deserved the chief minister's post.
Congress had won 135 seats in Karnataka whereas ruling BJP managed to win only 66 and the JD(S), which was hoping to play the role of a kingmaker, was reduced to 19 seats.
(With inputs from IANS)
