Siddaramaiah to be named next Karnataka CM, DK Shivakumar his deputy: Reports

Following hectic parleys and ending days of speculation, it has emerged that Siddaramaiah will take control as the Chief Minister of Karnataka with DK Shivakumar as his deputy, as per news agency PTI.

Sources said the swearing-in ceremony will be held in Bengaluru on May 20.



They said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge along with other stakeholders held parleys past midnight to hammer out a solution between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar -- the two chief ministerial aspirants.

On Thursday, Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh said that the decision to accept the post of deputy CM was accepted in the interest of Karnataka.

"I am not fully happy but in the interest of Karnataka we wanted to fulfil our commitment...That is why DK Shivakumar had to accept. In future we will see, there is a long way to go. ...I wish it (CM post for DK Shivakumar) but it didn't happen, we will wait and see," he said as per a video tweeted by ANI.

Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats.

"It has been decided by consensus that Siddaramaiah will be the next chief minister and Shivakumar will be the deputy chief minister," a Congress source said. Sources close to Shivakumar said he decided to make the "sacrifice" and agreed to be deputy chief minister in the interest of the party, PTI said.

ET on Wednesday reported that senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others proposed a power-sharing formula according to which Siddaramaiah will have an initial term of two years or so, and DK will take over next.

However, Shivakumar rejected it, and firmly told the leadership that he would not accept anything less than the CM’s post. He will remain just as an MLA if the party were to name Siddaramaiah for another term, sources said.

The issue developed into a crisis and stretched into the fourth day as Siddaramaiah demanded a second full-five year term on the grounds that he enjoyed the support of majority MLAs. Shivakumar, on the other hand, listed out the sacrifices he has made over the past three years. He is also said to have reminded the party leaders of the time spent in Tihar jail and having always been a loyal Congressmen in support of his demand, sources aware of the developments said.

(With agency inputs)