Who Will Be Karnataka CM? Decision Likely To Be Announced In Next 24 Hours

The suspense over the new Karnataka chief minister intensified on Monday as state Congress president D K Shivakumar cancelled his visit to the national capital citing health issues after he and Siddaramaiah, both frontrunners for the top post, were called by the central leadership for discussions.

The three central observers Sushilkumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria, who interacted with party MLAs on their choice for the CM's post after the Congress Legislature Party meeting on Sunday, briefed party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and submitted their report.

According to reports, Kharge is likely to consult with senior Congress leadership, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, before making a decision over the Karnataka chief minister. The party is getting ready to make the swearing-in ceremony a big show of strength.

After the meeting, Randeep Surjewala, AICC in-charge for Karnataka, told reporters that the party will announce its decision by Tuesday evening, as reported by PTI. ''The observers have submitted the report to the Congress president. We will hold consultations with all senior state leaders, including Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, and after that a decision will be taken by the Congress president,'' he said.

The six top leaders discussed the report of the observers and the views of newly-elected MLAs elicited by the three during one-on-one interactions with the new legislators held in Bengaluru late on Sunday night.

Sources said the observers apprised the Congress president of the views of MLAs on the new chief minister and the government formation in Karnataka.

Earlier in the day, All India Congress Committee in charge of Karnataka and MP Randeep Surjewala said that the observers will submit their report regarding the next Chief Ministerial choice to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, after which the government will be formed in the state very soon.

After registering a landslide victory in Karnataka assembly polls, the party is working on selecting the next Chief Minister of the state; the most probable names among which are former CM Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief DK Shivakumar.

Meanwhile, Congress leader DK Shivakumar who was supposed to go to Delhi on Monday has cancelled his visit, citing a stomach infection as per news agency PTI.

Even though, DK Shivakumar cancelled his visit to Delhi, his brother DK Suresh will be going to the national capital today. He is expected to land around 8:30 pm on Monday night.