As Congress Gets Set For Hard Call, D K Shivakumar In Delhi Today

With the suspense over the next Chief Minister pick for Karnataka continuing, Congress chief, D K Shivakumar will be in Delhi to make out his case.

While all the scales tilt in favour of Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar is not yet ready to give up and said in Bengaluru on Monday that he is the one who steered the Congress to a victory in Karnataka where the party won 135 of the 224 seats.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaih is already in Delhi and has told the high command that he is willing to share the term with Shivakumar. Siddaramaiah has however insisted that owing to his seniority, he should be given a two-year term first. The proposal has been rejected by Shivakumar.

The Congress top brass was briefed by a team of observers on Monday on the views of the newly elected MLAs. The legislators had met on Sunday and held a secret ballot. The same has been presented before Congress chief, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar told NDTV that he will not rebel or blackmail, but his efforts need to be acknowledged. He said that Sonia Gandhi had told him that she had confidence in him that he would deliver in Karnataka. "I am sitting here and doing my basic duty. You should have the basic courtesy, a bit of gratitude. They should have the courtesy to acknowledge who is behind the win," Shivakumar also said.

In the recently concluded assembly elections in Karnataka, the Congress won with a comfortable margin. The party bagged 135 seats in the 224-member house where the magic mark is 113.

Siddaramaiah is likely to get the top post. He has run a government for a full-year term between 2013 and 2018. Shivakumar is however strong in the organisation and is considered to be resourceful when it comes to troubleshooting for the Congress. However, when it comes to running a government all polls ahead of the elections had said that Siddaramaiah is the most popular.