Shivakumar vs Siddaramaiah: Poster War for 'Next CM' Breaks Out in Karnataka

As the countdown for the announcement of the next Chief Minister of Karnataka has started following a big win for Congress in the Assembly polls, a poster war has surfaced between the supporters of Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar.

The photos of Siddaramaiah's supporters putting up a poster outside his residence in Bengaluru have caught the attention of the netizens as his followers have referred to him as "the next CM of Karnataka."

On the other side, posters were also put up on Sunday outside the house of DK Shivakumar's house in Bangalore wishing him an advanced birthday. The KPCC chief celebrates his birthday on May 15 and they sent the wishes saying "Birthday greetings to the new Chief Minister of Karnataka".

On Saturday, the Congress registered a resounding victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls under the collective leadership of DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. It has won 135 seats while the BJP bagged 66 seats. The JDS has been reduced to 19 seats.

The grand old party has done exceptionally well in the Old Mysuru region to restrict the JDS to less than 19 seats. The trends indicate that the Vokkaligas have put the weight behind Congress and the credit for this goes to Shivakumar, who is considered as a "troubleshooter". Whereas Siddaramaiah has a pan-Karnataka appeal and has considerable clout among the AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits).

The Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting will be held today to decide on the next CM of Karnataka.

Apart from DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, ex-KPCC President G Parameshwara, veteran leader and seven-time MP KH Muniyappa (both Dalits), and MB Patil (Lingayat) are in the race.