A day after winning a massive mandate for the state of Karnataka, the state Congress President DK Shivakumar on Sunday clarified that he has no differences with senior party leader Siddaramaiah. The development came as both DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are currently termed as frontrunners for the post of the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
“Some people say that I have differences with Siddaramaiah but I want to clear that there is no difference between us. Many times I have sacrificed for the party and stood with Siddaramaiah ji. I have given cooperation to Siddaramaiah,” DK Shivakumar said.
Karnataka State Elections which concluded on Saturday came as a big boost for the Congress as the party won 135 seats in the 224-member assembly. The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was restricted to 66 seats, while the regional player Janata Dal (Secular) won just 19 seats.
Congress is in celebration mode since yesterday, but the uncomfortable question of the post of Chief Minister remains with two strong leaders throwing their hat in the ring. The grand old party of India is already facing a rebellious attitude in states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and the decision will surely test the political acumen of Congress’s high command.
The newly-elected Congress MLAs will meet on Sunday evening and the party is expected to decide on the post of Chief Minister.
The sources inside the Congress are also claiming that the party can decide on a middle ground, with both DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah sharing the position with two equal tenures. However, it remains to be seen, how much the leaders will accept the arrangement as a similar situation occurred in Chhattisgarh, where the current Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel refused to step down after 2.5 years for his counter T.S Singh Deo.
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More
Less
For all the latest world News Click Here
