Siddaramaiah (right) and DK Shivakumar (left) were the two contenders for Karnataka Chief Minister.
New Delhi:
Siddaramaiah will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and DK Shivakumar his deputy, the Congress announced on Thursday, ending five days of suspense after the partys emphatic election win.
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The decision was announced by Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala at a news conference after days of internal wrangling with both contenders pushing for the top job. Mr Surjewala dodged a question whether five-year term will be split among them saying, “Power-sharing means sharing power with people of Karnataka, nothing else.”
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Sources close to Mr Shivakumar said that he had accepted the Number 2 position following an intervention by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The sources said the veteran leader had agreed to make the “sacrifice in the interest of the party”.
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DK Suresh, Congress MP and Mr Shivakumar’s brother told NDTV that they are “not happy”. “My brother wanted to be Chief Minister. We are not happy with this decision,” he said.
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Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Shivakumar met Congress general secretary KC Venugopal this morning. This was the first meeting between the two leaders since the tussle for the top post began. The two leaders then went to meet Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
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Earlier, Mr Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had made two offers to Mr Shivakumar at a meeting in Delhi on Wednesday. But the meet remained inconclusive, with the top post contender turning down both options, sources said. Another meeting was held later in the evening.
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Sources said the first option gave Mr Shivakumar the post of the state’s single Deputy Chief Minister post alongside his current job — heading the state party unit. He was also offered six ministries of his choice.
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There was also Option 2 — power sharing between Mr Shivakumar and Mr Siddaramaiah. Under this, Mr Siddaramaiah was to get the top post for two years, and would have been followed by Mr Shivakumar for three years, sources said. But sources said neither Mr Shivakumar nor Mr Siddaramaiah was ready to go second.
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There is no clarity on whether there has been a final decision on the rotational Chief Ministership yet. The power-sharing arrangement, it is learnt, now hinges on the Congress’s performance in Karnataka in the general election next year.
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A lot was riding on the decision because of next year’s general election. While Mr Shivakumar has a following among the state’s politically crucial Vokkaligas, Mr Siddaramaiah has the support of the AHINDA platform — an old social combination of minorities, Other Backward Classes, and Dalits, which had voted en masse for the Congress.
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Mr Shivakumar, though, has ruled out rebellion. “If the party wants, they can give me the responsibility… Ours is a united house. I don’t want to divide anyone here. Whether they like me or not, I am a responsible man. I will not backstab, and I will not blackmail,” he has said.
