Not Just Siddaramaiah and DKS, 3 Others In Race for CM Post: Congress Leader

Amid widespread rumours that the Congress high command is expected to pick one among Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar as Karnataka's next Chief Minister, former state minister Ramalinga Reddy has revealed the names of three others who are also in the race for the top post.

Ramalinga Reddy, who won from the BTM Layout, said, "In every party, ambitions will be there. Not only DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah even MB Patil and G Parameshwara are also interested." However, the party's central leadership will pick the next CM.

"Only one will become CM & the party's high command and MLAs will decide that. I will get minister (post)," Ramalinga Reddy, Karnataka Congress Working President, said.

The Congress is expected to announce the name of the next Chief Minister of Karnataka after the CLP meeting today. There are also reports which claim that if the high command fails to broker a truce between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, the top post might go to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

The grand old party registered a resounding victory by winning 135 seats in the 224-member Assembly on Saturday. While the BJP's seat has reduced to 66, the JDS bagged just 19 seats.

It was also the Congress' best-ever performance in Karnataka since 1999 when the party won 132 seats. The party had bagged 80 seats in the 2018 elections with a vote share of 38 per cent.

The Congress swept the Old Mysuru, Mumbai Karnataka, Hyderabad Karnataka and Central Karnataka regions of the six regions in the state. The BJP managed to retain its hold only in Coastal Karnataka while it was a mixed bag in Bengaluru.

As many as 14 ministers tasted defeat at the hustings. They are Govinda Karjol, J C Madhuswamy, B C Patil, Shankar Patil Munena Koppa, Halappa Achar, B Sriramulu, Dr K Sudhakar, BC Nagesh, Murugesha Nirani, BC Patil and MTB Nagaraj. V Somanna lost from Varuna and Chamarajanagar, the two segments where he contested. R Ashoka who too contested from two constituencies was re-elected from Padmanabhanagar but lost in Kanakapura.