Ending days of suspense, the Congress on Thursday announced Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister of Karnataka and PCC president D K Shivakumar as his only deputy in the soon-to be-formed cabinet.
The two leaders, who were in a tight race for the top post, would take oath along with other ministers on 20 May. The swearing-in ceremony will be held on at 12.30 PM.
A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) late evening on Thursday formally elected Siddaramaiah as its leader and Chief Minister of Karnataka, following which he met the Governor and staked his claim to form the government in the state.
Shivakumar moved a resolution to elect Siddaramaiah as the new leader of the CLP. All the members of the CLP endorsed it unanimously.
Following this, Siddaramaiah along with Shivakumar and other Congress leaders met Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at Raj Bhavan here and staked his claim to form the government in the state.
Earlier during the day, Congress, after days of deliberations, announced the decision of Congress’s new CM and Deputy CM in the state.
“We have decided on Siddaramiah as the chief minister of Karnataka. D K Shivakumar will the only Deputy CM,” General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said. Shivakumar will also continue as the party’s Karnataka state president till Parliamentary elections are over, he said.
When asked about the much-talked-about power-sharing formula between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Venugopal said the only power-sharing formula is to share the power with the people of Karnataka.
“Ours is a democratic party, we believe in consensus and not in dictatorship,” he said on the hectic discussions held over the last few days.
Crediting the people of the state and party leaders in Karnataka for the “spectacular” victory, he said this election was a clearly a fight between the poor and the rich and the poor and middle class have stood with the Congress party.
He also gave credit to Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for the victory in the polls and thanked them for campaigning and guiding the party rank and file.
Venugopal said the Congress victory was initiated from the time of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and thanked Rahul Gandhi for his spirited campaign and guidance. Venugopal said Siddaramaiah is a senior-most politician and an able administrator who contributed a lot in this election.
He also said that Shivakumar had electrified the campaign in the state and the two leaders were a “very good combination”. “Both are big assets of the Congress party,” he said, adding both were justified in their wish and desire to be chief minister.
Senior party leader Randeep Surjewala said both the leaders are capable of being chief minister and the Congress would provide a “transparent, honest and stable government” that would serve as a role model.
“This victory is the joint victory of the Congress organisation. Every worker showed that the Congress can fight this battle together and win,” he said. “The real crown of Congress victory is of 6.5 crore Kannadigas. It is a victory of every Kannadiga, of the democracy and the values of this Constitution and is a loss for those who want to quell democratic traditions under a bulldozer,” Surjewala said