Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar supporters vie for CM's post

BENGALURU: Ahead of the Congress Legislative party (CLP) meeting in Bengaluru today, a huge number of supporters gathered outside the residence of Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar in Bengaluru on Sunday and raised slogans of 'We want DK Shivakumar as CM'.

Congress, which registered an emphatic victory defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka on Saturday, now faces the challenge of deciding the chief minister amid speculations of Siddaramaiah being the front-runner followed by state party president DK Shivakumar.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday appointed three observers in Karnataka including former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and party leaders Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria for the election of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the state.

Taking to his social media handle, KC Venugopal said, "Congress President has deputed Sushil Kumar Shinde (Former Chief Minister, Maharashtra), Jitendra Singh (AICC GS) and Deepak Babaria (former AICC GS) as observers for the election of the Congress Legislative party (CLP) Leader of Karnataka."

The observers will be present in the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting and will submit the report to the party's high command. After emerging victorious in the Karnataka polls which the party described as a "stepping stone to the Lok Sabha polls", Congress wants to project Siddaramaiah who belongs to OBC Kurba Samaj for the Chief Minister's post, sources said.

Sources said that the party is mulling having three deputy chief ministers in Karnataka. "DK Shivakumar of Vokkaliga Samaj, G Parameshwara of Dalit Samaj and MB Patil of Lingayat Samaj should be the Deputy CM with him," they said.

Meanwhile, after Congress registered a thumping victory in the Karnataka assembly election, Kharge on Sunday assured the people that the grand old party will fulfil all the five promises made to the public in the party's manifesto after the formation of the cabinet.

During campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections, Congress sought to keep the narrative to local issues. The Congress heavily banked on its five guarantees - Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya, Yuva Nidhi and Shakti - with the party leaders promising their immediate implementation if the party comes to power.

While talking to the media, Kharge said, "People of Karnataka have rejected BJP and brought the Congress party back to power. People have given us a record number of votes. We will implement all 5 promises that we made to the public in our manifesto after we form our cabinet."

"CLP meeting will be held today and will hand over the report to the high command after which the high command will take its time to declare the name of the Chief Minister of Karnataka," Kharge added.

According to the Election Commission of India, Congress won 135 seats pushing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power in the only southern state it ruled and boosting its own prospects for the electoral battles ahead. BJP managed to win 66 seats.

Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) bagged 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each.