Siddaramaiah to be Karnataka CM, DK Shivakumar his deputy

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, May 18

Siddharamaiah is set to take oath as the next chief minister of Karnataka and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar as his deputy.

Congress sources said a decision to this effect was reached on Wednesday night following parleys at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The state cabinet to be sworn in along with the CM is expected to have 20 ministers.

Sources said the mass appeal across sections and support of majority MLAs in the secret ballot used to determine lawmakers’ choices went in Siddharamaiah’s favour.

Shivakumar is learnt to have said no to a proposed power-sharing formula conscious of its failure in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The party is learnt to have agreed to one deputy CM as asked by Shivakumar.

Siddharamaiah has yet again emerged on top of the Karnataka power game having held sway since his entry to the Congress in 2006.

Siddharamaiah was the CM in 2013 also when the Congress had mustered a majority after 14 years since 1999.

He went on to complete his term of five years, something only the Congress party’s late Devraj Urs had earlier done from 1972 to 1977.

Siddharamaiah had quit the JD (S) after the party supremo promoted his son HD Kumaraswamy over Siddharamaiah and the latter saw restricted chances for growth.

He held three rallies to woo AHINDAS (SCs, OBCs, Muslims) and quit having proved his mettle.After resigning his Assembly seat, he contested the by-election from the same Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket and won it.

He was appointed as KPCC Publicity committee Chairman for the 2008 general election and strove hard to garner maximum votes in favour of the Congress. Again he was elected to the rechristened Varuna constituency in 2008.

The Congress high command chose him as Leader of the Congress Legislature Party and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and he performed his task effectively.

In 2013, Siddharamaiah became CM, leaving behind the favourite for the post Mallikarjun Kharge.

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