Siddaramaiah To Be Karnataka CM, DK Shivakumar His Only Deputy

Congress on Thursday officially announced Siddaramaiah as the chief minister of Karnataka and D.K. Shivakumar as his deputy, ending days of speculation and hectic parleys.

"Siddaramaiah will be the Chief Minister of Karnataka and D.K. Shivakumar will be the only deputy CM, said KC Venugopal, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) at a press conference.

"Shivakumar will continue as the PCC president till the end of parliamentary elections. CM designate-Siddaramaih, deputy CM Shivakumar and a group of ministers will be sworn-in on 20th May," he added.

Responding to a question on the power-sharing formula in Karnataka, Venugopal said the only power-sharing that will happen is sharing of power with the people of Karnataka and nothing else, making it clear that Siddaramaiah will be the CM for five years.

"Ours is a democratic party, we believe in consensus and not in dictatorship," he said.

"Popular leader and an able administrator, Siddaramaiah has contributed a lot to the party. He worked round the clock to ensure that Congress comes to power in Karnataka. Likewise, our DK, our dynamic leader electrified the cadre of the state. Both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are assets of the Congress party in Karnataka," he said.

"Both DKS and Siddaramaih deserved to assume the top post. The Congress president had a series of talks with senior leaders and one-to-one discussions with both leaders. Kharge also took suggestions from Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and all other senior leaders and we all were part of it," he added.

The announcement came ahead of the crucial Congress meet in Bengaluru to elect the legislative party leader.

State chief Shivakumar has written to all legislators, asking them to attend the meeting of the newly-elected MLAs, MLCs and MPs .

Meanwhile, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted a picture captioned: "Team Congress is committed to usher progress, welfare and social justice for the people of Karnataka. We will implement the 5 guarantees promised to 6.5 Cr Kannadigas (sic)."

The oath-taking ceremony will be attended by Gandhis and leaders of all like-minded parties on Saturday, hinting that the event will be a platform for opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.