DKS or Siddaramaiah: Who will be CM? 72 hours on, Congress still can't take a call

As the hectic negotiations for the post of Karnataka Chief Minister continue, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday met the two contenders for the CM’s chair, DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, at his residence in Delhi. However, no final decision on “Who will become the next Karnataka Chief Minister” has been taken yet by the party. 

According to sources, Kharge will take the final decision in consultation with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. It has also been revealed that the party might take a few more days to announce its chief ministerial face for Karnataka as DK Shivakumar is reportedly not convinced with the party’s decision. The announcement is likely to be made in Karnataka’s capital city, Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, back-to-back meetings are being held among the leaders of the party as hard bargaining is likely to occur before Congress decides on the next Chief Minister’s name for the southern state. 

Race for CM’s chair intensifies  

Notably, Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar on Tuesday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence an hour before the party chief was scheduled to meet former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. While Kharge’s meeting with DK Shivakumar's lasted for about 30 minutes, his meeting with Siddaramaiah took place for at least an hour. 

With the two senior and important leaders of the party – Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, raising stakes for the CM’s post, Congress is trying hard to find a way out that is acceptable to both its leaders. While Siddaramaiah is pitching for himself for the post claiming the support of majority MLAs, Shivakumar, confident on his hard work, has said that the decision to decide the next CM will be taken by the party high command. 

As the suspense over Karnataka CM's face continues, it has been learnt that Shivakumar is firm on his aspiration to sit on the Chief Minister’s chair and has rejected Kharge’s proposal of splitting the tenure between him and Siddaramaiah stating that there should be only one chief minister who will hold the position for a complete five-year term, sources say.