K’taka polls: Rahul, who’ll be Congress’ CM candidate, Siddaramaiah or Kharge? BJP wants to know

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to know who will be the Congress' chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.

Bengaluru, April 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to know who will be the Congress' chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. While the BJP has announced former CM BS Yeddyurappa as its CM candidate, the Congress is yet to officially name any leader as the prospective man to hold the top job if the party comes to power in the state once again.

Attacking the Congress, Union minister DV Sadananda Gowda demanded that the party president Rahul Gandhi should declare the party's CM candidate before the elections. Gowda, who was also the state's former CM, said that while the incumbent Congress CM Siddaramaiah is a "self-declared" CM candidate, son of veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyank Kharge, too has named his father as the future CM of Karnataka.

"Kharge's son has declared that his father would be the CM and Siddaramaiah is a self-declared candidate. Rahul Gandhi should make it clear," Gowda tweeted in Kannada.

Recently, the Election Commission (EC) announced the polling and counting dates for Karnataka. While the polling for the 224-member Legislative Assembly will take place on May 12, the counting of votes will be held on May 15 in the southern state.

Both the BJP and the Congress often don't declare the names of their respective CM candidates during state elections. Sometimes the tactic work in favour of the parties, at times it backfires too. Now, it needs to be seen if the Congress will follow in the footsteps of the BJP and name either Siddaramaiah or Kharge as its CM candidate.

Many say that the BJP asking the Congress to declare its CM candidate is a ploy to divide the party in Karnataka. "It is a well-known fact that Siddaramaiah will be made the CM of the state once again, if the party wins the polls. The BJP has no other issue so it is trying to bring division in the Congress," alleged a Congress leader.