Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to announce the name of the next Karnataka chief minister on Wednesday in Bengaluru, according to reports. The report came after Kharge met former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and state unit chief DK Shivakumar separately at his residence in New Delhi and discussed the modalities of government formation in the southern state. Kharge will take the final decision after consulting UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former party president Rahul Gandhi.
"No final decision has been made on the Karnataka CM post yet. Congress president has met all the stakeholders. Congress President has met all the stakeholders. Now the final decision will be taken by him in consultation with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The announcement is expected to be made in Bengaluru itself," sources said.
The suspense over the chief minister continues as both front-runners for the post, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, are said to have dug their heels in for the top post. Shivakumar told ANI that he would not resort to "backstabbing or blackmail" regardless of the party's decision.
"If the party wants they can give me the responsibility…Ours is a united house, our number is 135. 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 said.
"The party is my god...We have built this party, I am a part of it and I am not alone in this," he said before his departure from Bengaluru.
Cong sweeps Karnataka
Building on a strong anti-incumbency mood created in part by voter concerns on prices and graft, Congress comfortably swept past the majority mark of 113 in the Karnataka assembly elections, winning 136 seats. Its victory left in its wake a chastened BJP - which had turned itself into a one-trick pony, relying almost entirely on PM Narendra Modi’s popularity and charisma to win - with a modest score of 65.
Congress’s strong showing has left the third player in the state’s politics, the Deve Gowda family’s JD(S), staring at political irrelevance, and can potentially turn the state into a bipolar polity in 2024 when Lok Sabha elections are scheduled.
Highest turnout ever
Karnataka delivered its highest voter turnout of 73% in seven decades eclipsing the previous record of 71.1% in 2018. Bengaluru Urban was the laggard in the voting stakes with 54.5%, even lower than the 56% polled five years ago. Barring skirmishes at some places that officials said were swiftly controlled, there was no major blip in polling across 224 constituencies in a three-cornered contest between BJP, Congress and JD(S).