BackKC Venugopal makes official announcement on Karnataka CM deal. Details here
Mass leader Siddaramaiah will be the net chief minister of Karnataka for 2.5 years. DK Shivakumar will be sworn in as deputy CM for 2.5 years and will takeover as CM post that.
PremiumCongress General Secretary K C Venugopal on Thursday announced that Siddharamaiah will be Karnataka's new chief minister and DK Shivakumar will be appointed as his deputy. The oath-taking ceremony will take place on May 20 at 12.30 pm.
Addressing a press conference at AICC headquarters in Delhi, Venugopal said, “All Congress leaders, including top leadership, worked very hard to make Karnataka victory a reality. Ours is a democratic party, we believe in consensus, not dictatorship"
“We have decided on Siddaramiah as CM of Karnataka; D K Shivakumar will be Deputy CM. D K Shivakumar to continue as party's Karnataka state president till Parliamentary elections," he said.
The senior party leader also added that newly elected MLAs are meeting this evening in Bengaluru to formally elect a new Karnataka CM.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief has written to all legislators, asking them to attend the meeting of newly-elected MLAs, MLCs and MPs at the Indira Gandhi Bhavan on Queen's Road at 7 pm.
Earlier today, media reports stated that former Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday evening had a conversation with DK Shivakumar, who had been firm on his demand for the Chief Minister post, to resolve the issue.
Hectic parleys were held on Wednesday to break the deadlock in deciding on the Congress' chief ministerial pick in Karnataka with both the hopefuls presenting their cases before the top brass even as the party asserted that an outcome is likely within a day or two.
In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory by bagging 135 seats while the ruling BJP and the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.
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