Following the sweeping victory in the Karnataka assembly election, the Congress party is already witnessing a power struggle for the position of chief minister in the state.
First, supporters of former CM Siddaramaiah put up a poster outside his residence in Bengaluru, calling him “the next CM of Karnataka.”
#WATCH | Supporters of senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah put up a poster outside Siddaramaiah's residence in Bengaluru, referring to him as "the next CM of Karnataka." pic.twitter.com/GDLIAQFbjs
— ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2023
Shortly afterward, Karnataka Congress President and senior party leader DK Shivakumar’s followers hung a poster outside his Bengaluru house, demanding him to be declared as “CM of the state.”
#WATCH | Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar's supporters put up a poster outside his residence in Bengaluru, demanding DK Shivakumar to be declared as "CM" of the state. pic.twitter.com/N6hFXSntJy
— ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2023
Congress party has called for a meeting of its elected MLAs on Sunday evening in the midst of all the drama. The party’s Karnataka head DK Shivakumar announced that the party will hold a legislature meeting today at 6:05 pm, at the Shangri La Hotel located in the state’s capital and he has already directed all the winners to reach Bengaluru.
ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಅಮೋಘ ಗೆಲುವಿನ ನಂತರ, ನಾಳೆ ಸಂಜೆ 6:05 ಕ್ಕೆ ಶಾಂಗ್ರಿಲಾ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಶಾಸಕಾಂಗ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಸಭೆ ನಡೆಸಲು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದ್ದೇವೆ.
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) May 13, 2023
Post Congress party's thumping victory in Karnataka, we are looking forward to having our CLP meeting tomorrow at 6:05pm, at Shangri La hotel.
The Congress Legislative Party (CLP) is expected to approve a resolution delegating the choice of the chief minister to the Congress national president. There are concerns that if the issue isn’t resolved, DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah would get involved in an ugly standoff within the party. Both party stalwarts have been outspoken about their ambitions for the top position.
Yesterday, DK Shivakumar reacting to the statement of Yathindra Siddaramiah, son of Siddaramiah, that his father should once again assume the top position curtly said that “High Command will decide.”
Earlier, the Gandhi family loyalist DK Shivakumar said, “I assured Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge that I will deliver Karnataka. I can’t forget Sonia Gandhi coming to meet me in jail.”
DK Shivakumar, as opposed to Siddaramaiah, has always been a member of Congress and has never lost an election since he won his first one in 1989. Siddaramaiah has been part of All India Progressive Janata Dal, Janata Dal, and Janata Dal (Secular) in the past before joining Congress.
The 75-year-old politician has often pointed out that this is his final election, presumably in the hopes that the party will take this into account while making its decision and consider him for the CM post. However, to his critics in the party, he is still an outsider and an import from another party.
In contrast to its 2018 assembly election victory of 104 seats, the Bhartiya Janata Party only managed to win 66 seats, while Congress increased its seat count from 80 to 135 ensuring a significant success for the party. The Janata Dal (Secular), which gained 37 seats in the previous election, was able to secure only 19 seats this time.
