Congress MLAs Authorise Mallikarjun Kharge To Pick New Karnataka CM

The Congress legislative party (CLP) on Sunday unanimously passed a resolution authorising party president Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the new Chief Minister of Karnataka.

"The Congress Legislature Party unanimously resolves that AICC President is hereby authorised to appoint the new Leader of the Congress Legislature Party", the one-line resolution read after the CLP meeting in Bengaluru.

"Siddaramaiah moved the single-line resolution authorising president Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint a new leader of CLP party and 135 Cong MLAs proceeded to unanimously approve his resolution. It was accepted by DK Shivakumar also. KC Venugopal informed Kharge about the resolutions", said Randeep Surjewala, AICC in-charge for Karnataka after the CLP meeting.

Reportedly, Kharge has directed KC Venugopal that the central observers must take individual opinions of each legislature and convey them to the high command.

With the ball now in Kharge's court, lobbying for the top post is set to shift to Delhi with Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar expected to arrive in the national capital on Monday to meet Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

According to sources, Siddaramaiah remains the popular choice over Shivakumar. However, both leaders have faced several hardships both externally and internally before they steered their party to an impressive majority.

The selection of CM candidate is not going to be an easy task for the Congress high command as the entire state is debating as to who will pip whom to the top post.

Meanwhile, the newly elected Chief Minister of Karnataka is likely to take oath on Thursday in presence of the Gandhis and Kharge.

The Congress is likely to invite the like-minded parties for the oath-taking ceremony. Reportedly, CM candidate will take oath on Thursday and the new Karnataka cabinet will be formed within two days.

As the battle for the top post intesifies, the supporters of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar raised slogans outside Shangri-la Hotel where CLP meeting took place. While the two leaders earlier held meetings with the MLAs loyal to them, a poster war also erupted with both sides projecting their leader as the next chief minister.

Earlier, the Congress central observers, along with AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal held a meeting with CM hopefuls Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar.

Congress president Kharge had deputed former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh and former AICC general secretary Deepak Babaria as observers for the election of the CLP leader.

Congress registered a landslide win in the May 10 Assembly polls as it secured 135 seats out of 224, while the BJP bagged only 66.