Four days after the party's massive sweep in the Karnataka Assembly elections, Congress declared, on Thursday, 18 May, that its leader, 75-year-old Siddaramaiah will be made the chief minister of Kanataka. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar will be made the deputy chief minister.
The oath ceremony will be held in Bengaluru on 20th May.
The decision came after days-long talks as both the leaders made their cases before the Congress central leadership in Delhi and mobilised MLAs to support them in Karnataka. In the race, Siddaramaiah had emerged with the most number of MLAs
"The Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) finally took a decision on the CLP leader. He decided that Siddharamaiah will be the chief minister and DK Shivakumar will be the only one deputy CM. He will continue as PCC president till the Parliament election is over," said Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal while addressing the media in New Delhi on Thursday, 18 May.
Addressing the media along with Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, Venugopal said that both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar had the right to claim the CM post.
"An experienced senior leader and an able administrator, Siddaramaiah ji contributed a lot for this election, for the party. He tirelessly worked through the state. Similarly, our PCC president DK, our dynamic party organiser electrified the cadre of the state. He filled the gaps wherever required. With Shivakumar as PCC leader and Siddaramaiah as CLP leader, both are assets of the Congress party in Karnataka," he said.
"Everybody has the wish to become CM and both deserved to have it. The Congress president had a series of consultations with senior leaders and one-to-one discussions with both leaders. We were all a part of it. He also took suggestions from Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and all other senior leaders," Venugopal added.
