By India Today News Desk: After four days of deadlock, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has put his stamp on the name of veteran party leader Siddaramaiah to become the next chief minister of Karnataka, India Today has learned. Congress state president DK Shivakumar, who was also in the race for the top post, will be his deputy. The oath-taking ceremony will be held in Bengaluru on May 20.
This comes amid suspense over the top post as multiple rounds of discussions were held on Wednesday between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Rahul Gandhi. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar was also present in the meeting to work out a solution.
On Wednesday, sources told India Today that DK Shivakumar had agreed to a power-sharing pact with senior leader Siddaramaiah but wanted the top post for the first half of the five-year tenure.
“The party high command feels that neither Siddaramaiah nor DKS can take oath alone. It’s a collective leadership and the top leadership does not want a one-man show. Negotiations are going on because Shivakumar is not ready to budge,” a source had told India Today.
Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar were locked in the battle for the chief ministerial post after Congress’s massive victory in the state Assembly election held on May 10.
The Congress won a decisive mandate in the Karnataka Assembly election, winning 135 of the 224 seats, ousting the BJP from power. The BJP was a distant second with 66 seats and the JD(S), which had hoped to play the kingmaker, was down with just 19 seats.
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