Siddaramaiah Karnataka CM, DK his deputy; oath-taking tomorrow

Shubhadeep Choudhury

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New Delhi, May 18

Ending days of suspense, the Congress on Thursday announced Siddaramaiah, 75, as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and state party president DK Shivakumar, 61, as the sole Deputy CM.

Editorial: CM Siddaramaiah

The appointments of the two leaders were announced by Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal after five days of parleys to strike a consensus between the stalwarts.

Eventually, Shivakumar agreed on Deputy CM-ship on the condition that he would be the only deputy in the Cabinet and that he would stay state Congress president until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the Congress, both the CM and state unit chief have a say in the selection of candidates.

Consensus after hectic parleys

• The appointment of two leaders was announced by Congress after five days of parleys
• Shivakumar agreed on Deputy CM-ship on the condition that he would be the only deputy
• He also insisted on keeping state Congress president post until 2024 LS elections
• In Cong-ruled states, both CM and state unit chief have a say in picking candidates

Consulted all: Ramesh

2017: BJP took 8 days to announce CM of UP. 2021: BJP took 7 days to announce CM of Assam.

2022: BJP took 11 days to announce CM of Uttarakhand.

2023: Cong declared CM & Deputy CM of Karnataka 3 days after 1st meeting of MLAs.

Later in the evening, Siddaramaiah was elected Karnataka Congress Legislature Party leader at a meeting in Bengaluru. Following this, he along with Shivakumar and other Congress leaders met Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at Raj Bhavan and staked claim to form the government in the state.

Siddaramaiah will take oath along with Shivakumar and about 20 other ministers on May 20, with invitations for swearing-in sent to all like-minded parties. Earlier addressing a press conference, Venugopal said, “Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has decided that Siddaramaiah will be the Chief Minister of Karnataka. DK Shivakumar will be the sole Deputy CM of Karnataka. He will continue as PCC president till the Parliament election is over.”

The Congress leader added that the party believed in consensus, and not dictatorship.

“The last two-three days, we were trying for a consensus,” Venugopal said, adding that both leaders had contributed to the Congress win and both were deserving of the CM’s post.

AICC general secretary (Karnataka) Randeep Surjewala said there could only be one CM. “Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are fit to be CMs. There are also other competent people. But only one person can become CM,” he said.

The agreement on the arrangement was reached late last night after consultations at Kharge’s residence.

Sources said mass appeal across sections and support of a majority of MLAs in the secret ballot went in Siddaramaiah’s favour.

Shivakumar declined the proposed power-sharing formula, conscious of its failure in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and agreed to join the Cabinet on the condition that he would be the sole Deputy CM. Siddaramaiah again emerged on top of the Karnataka power game, having held sway in the Congress since his entry in 2006 after leaving the JD(S). He served as CM from 2013 to 2018, making him second in the state’s history, after Congress’ late Devraj Urs, to complete the five-year term.

Siddaramaiah had quit the JD(S) in 2006, protesting its founder HD Deve Gowda’s preference for son HD Kumaraswamy in the party hierarchy.