Not happy...long way to go: DK Shivakumar's brother

NEW DELHI: After the Congress party high command choose DK Shivakumar as the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Congress MP DK Suresh said that he was not happy with the decision and wished for the chief ministerial post for his brother.

The Congress is all set to name Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister of Karnataka, and a formal announcement on the same is set to be made at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Thursday evening here in Bengaluru.

"I am not fully happy but in the interest of Karnataka, we wanted to fulfil our commitment...That is why DK Shivakumar had to accept. In future we will see, there is a long way to go. ...I wish it (CM post for DK Shivakumar) but it didn't happen, we will wait and see," said Congress MP DK Suresh.

The oath-taking ceremony is set to be held in Bengaluru on May 20.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will extend an invitation to opposition leaders to attend the swearing-in ceremony, sources said adding that the Gandhis, Congress chief ministers and senior Congress leaders will attend the event in Bengaluru.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Shivakumar has written to all the legislators, asking them to attend the meeting of the newly-elected MLAs, MLCs and MPs at the Indira Gandhi Bhavan on Queen's Road today in Bengaluru at 7 pm today.

According to sources, Congress President Kharge worked till late night Wednesday to break the political deadlock over the next chief minister and arrived at a consensus for government formation.

Central Observers from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) have been asked to reach Bengaluru to conduct the CLP Meeting.

Meanwhile, security was stepped up and banners were also put up outside Congress leader Siddaramaiah's residence. Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats.