Who is Siddaramaiah, Karnataka's CM-designate?

After days of hectic parleys and suspense, Congress has finally decided to go with Siddaramaiah as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka. D.K. Shivakumar, another contender for the top post, claimed that he decided to make the sacrifice and agreed to be his deputy "in the interest of the party."

Born on 12th August 1948 at Siddaramanahundi village in Mysuru district, Siddaramaiah graduated from Mysore University with a B.Sc. degree and later studied Law at the same institution and pursued it as a profession for some time.

Siddaramaiah made his electoral debut on a Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket from the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysore. He later joined then ruling Janata Party. Known for his oratory skills, Siddaramaiah was influenced by Dr Ram Manohar Lohia's brand of socialism.

After the fractured verdict in 2004, Congress and JDS formed a coalition government under the leadership of Congress' N. Dharam Singh. Siddaramaiah, then in JDS, was made the Deputy Chief Minister.

In 2006, Siddaramaiah joined Congress after being expelled from JDS following differences with party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda. A mass leader with more than four decades of political experience, 75-year-old Siddaramaiah was instrumental in bringing Congress to power in 2013 Assembly elections.

Siddaramaiah is considered the architect of the ''Ahinda'' - an acronym for the Kannada words Alpasankhyataru (minorities), Hindulidavaru (backward classes) and Dalitaru (Dalits) - formula. He used Ahinda formula to consolidate his position as a mass leader in the State and catapult Congress to power in the 2013 elections.

In 2013, he became the Chief Minister overpowering his closest contestant for the post M. Mallikarjun Kharge, who is now the AICC president. Siddaramaiah was the third Karnataka CM after S Nijalingappa and Devaraj Urs to complete a full term in office.

He also has a record of presenting as many as 13 State budgets as Finance Minister. As Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaaih has launched various welfare measures such as Anna Bhagya (free rice scheme), Ksheera Bhagya (free milk), setting up Indira Canteens, etc.

However, Siddaramaiah had tasted defeat in the 1989 and 1999 Assembly elections. Despite being a popular CM, he lost the 2018 polls in Chamundeshwari in Mysuru to JDS leader G.T. Deve Gowda by 36,042 votes. Later, he managed to win from Badami, the other constituency from where he had contested then and defeated BJP's B. Sriramulu.