'Fight for CM post will continue in Congress for 5 years'

BENGALURU: Taking a potshot at Congress over the delay in declaring the Chief Ministerial candidate, former Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday said, the fight for the Chief Minister post in Congress will continue.

"Congress party is a leisure party, for five years the fight for the post of chief minister will continue in the party. People of all caste communities are demanding the post of Chief Minister in the Congress party, this is the culture of the Congress party," Jnanendra said.

"The fight for the post of Chief Minister will go and they will do nothing for the public for the next five years. Their fight will continue even after going to Delhi," he said.

Meanwhile, veteran leader Siddaramaiah visited at 10, Janpath and meet party leader Rahul Gandhi as the suspense continues over the Karnataka CM post.

Rahul Gandhi will also meet with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee DK Shivakumar later in the day.

The Congress is continuing its deliberations to choose the Karnataka Chief Minister with both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar persisting with their claims and another round of meetings slated to take place today to reach a conclusion.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has held talks with all stakeholders in Karnataka. Party leader Rahul Gandhi met Kharge on Tuesday to discuss government formation in the southern state.

Earlier on Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held meetings with both the potential candidates DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in New Delhi.

Siddaramaiah arrived at Kharge's residence on Tuesday accompanied by his son Yatindra, MLAs Zameer Ahmad, Bhyrati Suresh, and senior leader KJ George. The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka after winning the May 10 assembly election.

It won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. Despite Congress' clear mandate in the Karnataka assembly polls, suspense over the chief minister continues as senior leaders DK Shivakumar, who is the Karnataka Congress' president, and Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of the opposition are in the race.