Race for CM post intensifies in Karnataka Congress

The Congress appears to be confident of a win in Karnataka. The party has been relying heavily on the pattern in which Karnataka votes, where the people have not elected the same party back into power.

While scales seem to be tilted in favour of the party as of now, the one issue plaguing it is the one-upmanship by two of its leader, D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah.

"The high command will not decide on who becomes the next chief minister. It would be the MLAs," Siddaramaiah had said.

He however later added that both him as well Shivakumar are both CM aspirants.

There is bonhomie that can be seen in all the posters the Congress has plastered across the state. Both leaders can be seen in the midst of Rahul Gandhi and are all smiles for the camera.

However sources tell OneIndia that both leaders are silently working to drum up the support of as many MLAs as possible. Both the leaders are trying to get in as many of their aspirants as possible into the final list of candidates. The Congress has so far released a list of 120 candidates.

On Monday, there were protests outside the office of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), with aspirants demanding tickets. A section of those protesting were against the induction of Molakmuru MLA N Y Gopalkrishna, who ditched the BJP to join the Congress. They demanded that Yogesh Babu be fielded from the seat. Protests were also witnessed in Kolar, where a section of the leaders demanded that Siddaramaiah be fielded from there. There were also protests in Chickamagalur demanding that outsiders should not be fielded.

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have been making attempts to get a maximum number of leaders on their side. Recently an audio clip of former Janata Dal (Secular) leader Y S V Datta who joined the Congress had leaked in which he was heard saying that attempts to consolidate MLAs were being made by Siddaramaiah. On the other hand, Shivakumar has been trying to get a large number of leaders on his side from the Belagavi region. Over the past couple of years, he has been working hard on this region to further consolidate his position and make a pitch for the post of CM.

While the two leaders may have ironed out their differences with the first list being released, there is still some confusion on the remaining 100 candidates. There has been constant bickering between the two leaders. While they may manage to get the list, there was talk that there are 50 seats on which the two leaders are in disagreement.

While the two leaders have been battling to get their way through to the top post in the state, they also face the challenge of massive demonstrations within the party. Party workers have been protesting in many constituencies against the induction of outsiders and this remains a major issue for the party which is hoping to come to power in the crucial state of Karnataka with an absolute majority.