Karnataka Next CM: Siddaramaiah or DK Shivakumar; here is details

Karnataka assembly elections in which Congress swept the polls by winning 135 seats, BJP 66 and JDS 19, while four seats were won by others. Karnataka Next CM: Siddaramaiah or DK Shivakumar; here is details.

According to the Election Commission of India, Congress won 135 seats pushing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power in the only southern state it ruled and emerging as the natural opposition party in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP managed to win 66 seats. Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) bagged 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each.

Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, two main contenders for Karnataka’s next chief minister, are expected to be in New Delhi on Monday, a day after the state Congress passed a unanimous resolution authorising the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the CM.

The meeting of Mallikarjun Kharge with former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar comes on the latter’s birthday (May 15). On Sunday night, Shivakumar tweeted a picture celebrating his birthday with Siddaramaiah and his other party colleagues.

“My life is dedicated to serving the people of Karnataka. On the eve of my birthday, the people of Karnataka gave me the best birthday gift possible. Thanks to my Congress family for their warm greetings,” Shivakumar tweeted.

With the ball now in Kharge’s court, the top contenders are also expected to meet Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the national capital. On Sunday evening, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru, passed a one-line resolution authorising Kharge to pick its leader.

Who will be the next chief minister of Karnataka. The CLP meeting was attended by AICC general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and three central observers. Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Karnataka, later said Kharge will not take long and announce the name of the next chief minister of Karnataka soon.

The meeting, which started late on Sunday night, continued till 1.30 am. It was attended by all 135 newly elected MLAs. Former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and party leaders Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria were present in the meeting as observers.

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Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and others also attended the meeting. The team would reportedly head to New Delhi and hold discussions with Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi.