Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar Meet Rahul Gandhi At 10 Janpath

Amid suspense over the next Chief Minister of Karnataka, the top claimants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar met former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

The meeting took place at UPA chairperson and party MP Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence in Delhi.

Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar had separate meetings with senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

It is reported that Siddaramaiah will be made the Chief Minister of the state while D K Shivakumar will be his Deputy. The swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place on Thursday, thus ending the four-day drama in the party which began since the election results were out on Saturday.

Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, Karnataka Congress Working President Eshwar Khandare and many others also met the central leadership today.

Earlier on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence separately and discussed the modalities of government formation in Karnataka. The latter reached Kharge's residence a little after 5 pm and held deliberations over the post of Chief Minister of Karnataka.

However, the KPCC Chief left after a 30-minute meeting and refused to speak to the media. After he left, Siddaramaiah arrived at Kharge's residence and the two leaders held discussions on the top post.

It was reported that Shivakumar had demanded to be made the CM failing which he would be out of the cabinet and government.

Both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have staked their claim for the top post following Congress' victory in the Assembly polls where it bagged 135 seats. Supporters of both leaders are indulging in hectic lobbying in support of their leaders.

On the other hand, the newly-elected MLAs have passed a one-line resolution authorising Kharge to appoint the new Chief Minister.