Karnataka CM Announcement: No Decision Yet As DK Shivakumar Refuses To Budge

After three days of discussions, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has not yet made a decision on the next Chief Minister of Karnataka.

According to reports, DK Shivakumar, the state unit chief, remained steadfast in his demand for the Chief Ministerial position in Karnataka. Shivakumar has been leading the party in the state since 2020 and has achieved results in line with the party's expectations.

Various formulas were proposed during the discussions, including the rotation of Chief Ministers for two and three-year terms, the appointment of a Deputy Chief Minister of Shivakumar's choice, and granting him significant influence in the state cabinet. However, Shivakumar has expressed disinterest in these options and is determined to lead the state himself, as reported by IANS.

Regarding the possibility of a third contender for the chief ministerial post, besides outgoing Assembly Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the report further mentioned that the topic was brought up during the meeting. However, due to the strong competition between the top leaders for the position, no detailed discussion took place.

On Wednesday afternoon, both Shivakumar and Kharge separately met with former party chief Rahul Gandhi. After the meeting, Shivakumar visited Kharge at his residence, while Siddaramaiah stayed at a hotel in the area.

Later, Shivakumar also met with the MLAs supporting him at the residence of his brother and party MP DK Suresh. According to the source, they urged Shivakumar to continue exerting pressure on the party leadership to secure the top post.

Additionally, Shivakumar had a meeting with Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Karnataka Congress in-charge, at Surjewala's residence. However, details of the meeting are currently unknown.

Following Shivakumar's departure, Surjewala went to meet with the party chief, where General Secretary, Organisation, KC Venugopal also joined them.

On Tuesday evening, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met separately with Kharge.

Earlier that day, Kharge had a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, attended by Surjewala and Venugopal. Despite discussions following the submission of the report from the three central observers - former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, party general secretary Jitendra Singh, and party leader Deepak Bawaria - no decision has been reached yet.