Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah tussle for Karnataka CM continues, Congress yet to decide

Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain, while leaving from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence, said, "There was no meeting. These were courtesy calls. Both (DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah) met the national president, discussed everything that happened in the election & gave him feedback. Consultations are still on at the national level. These will continue tomorrow. As soon as a decision is made, we will tell you."

A decision will come, wait. Good decision will come. It will come as soon as possible, says Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal as he leaves from the residence of Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi.

According to sources, DK Shivakumar is still adamant on the chief minister's post saying he either wants to be the CM or else will remain only an MLA.

Shivakumar does not want Siddaramaiah to be chief minister in case he is not made the CM.

He further said that former Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been supporting him, and he wants to meet her. She is likely to come to Delhi tomorrow.

Shivakumar is also likely to meet Rahul Gandhi as well.

According to sources, Siddaramaiah during his meeting with Mallikarjun Kharge said that most MLAs are supporting him.

"The party had said that the CM will be the one who will have more support of the MLAs... As CM, I gave a stable government and fulfilled all the promises made by the party... I have the experience of presenting the budget 13 times, the 5 guarantees that the party has to fulfill, it is possible only through me... If I become the CM, the social equation of the state will be in favour of the Congress in the 2024 elections," Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah further said that considering his age, he should be made the next chief minister.

If the Congress high command gives me the responsibility of the CM post, I will definitely fulfill it. They know everything about me and my work. I don't want to lobby, says Dr G Parameshwara, Congress leader and former Karnataka Deputy CM as CM tussle continues.

During his meeting with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, DK Shivakumar told him that he should be made the next chief minister.

Siddaramaiah has been CM before, Congress party gave him the highest position and made him the CLP leader, now it is his turn, Shivakumar said. 

This time the party has also got a share of the Vokkaliga and Lingayat vote share along with Dalit, Muslim, and OBC... young voters have chosen Congress, so now a new leadership should be given to the party... if Siddaramaiah is made CM then the party won't get Lingayat votes in 2024 because they don't like Siddaramaiah, he said.

In 2019, when the party was completely disintegrated after the discord, I took over the party and took it to this victory... the party should respect my contribution, he asserted.

Congress leader and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah leaves from the residence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, in Delhi.

The crucial meetings are still on but sources said it is unlikely that the announcement will be made today. They said the decision could be postponed.

The crucial meetings are still on but sources said it is unlikely that Karnataka's next CM announcement will be made today.

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar left from the residence of the party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge, in Delhi.

Sources suggest that DK Shivakumar is not ready for the rotational CM formula and wants a full-fledged five-year term.

However, the possibility of Siddaramaiah seems to be high at this moment.

After listening to both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will have one more round of talks with Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary, KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Deleberations will be made in this meeting with what both leaders would tell the Congress president and after that, a decision will be made.

Siddaramaiah has got the support of more MLAs than DK Shivakumar, however, DK Shivkumar has worked hard a lot on ground as the party president.

As per sources, Shivakumar believes that he should be made the CM and is adamant about it, however, cases against him and the support of MLAs to Siddaramaiah have made his case weak.

In order to choose the next Karnataka CM, a series of high-level meetings are underway in Delhi. First Mallikarjun Kharge met Rahul Gandhi and also held a meeting with the state election in-charge and general secretaries.

Post this, KC Venugopal met Rahul Gandhi.

Now, Kharge is meeting DK Shivakumar and will later meet Siddaramaiah. 

The announcement of the new Chief Minister is likely to be made today.

As Karnataka CM tussle continues, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge is scheduled to meet DK Shivakumar at 5 pm and Siddaramaiah at 6 pm today.

High Command has taken the opinions of all the representatives. The High Command and the senior leaders will sit together and they will finalise. Congress is a 100-year-old party. We have seen such things many times. This is a small matter for the party to solve and they will solve it. Don't worry, says Congress leader UT Khader as Karnataka CM tussle continues.

If any channel is reporting that I am resigning from the post, I will file a defamation case against them... Some of them are reporting that I will resign... My mother is my party, I built this party. My high command, my MLA, my party are there - 135, said Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar as he leaves from the residence of his brother and MP DK Suresh.

In many states, we have more than one competent leader, and such is also the case in Rajasthan. But, only one leader becomes the CM, says Congress leader Pawan Khera in a press conference in Hyderabad.

They further demanded that DK Shivakumar should be given a chance to become the CM. They said, "Siddharamaiah got a chance to become CM once before, so this time DK Shivakumar should be given a chance."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reached party national president Mallikarjun Kharge's house for high-level meeting being held to elect Karnataka CM.

Newly elected Karnataka Congress MLAs arrive at the residence of party national president Mallikarjun Kharge amid ongoing talks in the party for the next Karnataka CM.

Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar, engaged in an intense competition with Siddaramaiah over the post of Chief Minister, left for Delhi on Tuesday morning. "Congress party is my God. Congress party is my temple. Congress party is like a mother to me. God and mother know what to give to children.  I am going to the temple to meet my God. I'm going alone because the General Secretary has asked me to come alone."

DK Shivakumar will leave for Delhi by Vistara flight at 9:50 am.

Inputs by T Raghavan

Congress State President DK Shivakumar has is likely to visit national capital on Tuesday to meet the top brass after he was unable to visit on Monday citing health issues.