Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday deputed former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh, Deepak Babaria as observers for election of CLP leader in Karnataka.
AICC general secretary, organisation, KC Venugopal said the central observers will regulate the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting.
"Hon’ble Congress President has deputed Shri. Sushilkumar Shinde (Former Chief Minister, Maharashtra), Shri. Jitendra Singh (AICC GS) and Shri. Deepak Babaria (former AICC GS) as observers for the election of the CLP Leader of Karnataka," he tweeted.
In Karnataka, the Congress staged a stunning comeback on Saturday, defeating the BJP in its sole southern stronghold with a comfortable majority.
Later this evening, the crucial CLP meeting will take place, at which the choice of the leader will be made.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D K Shivakumar are both leaders for the chief minister's post.
The Congress party crossed the halfway point of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly on Saturday, resulting in an absolute majority for the party in Karnataka. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 66 seats, while the Congress has won 135 seats. 19 seats have been won by Janata Dal-Secular (JDS). Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha each won one seat, while independents won two seats.
The next task for the Congress is to pick a chief ministerial candidate with both state Congress chief DK Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah hopefuls for the post.
The Congress kept a lead from the morning while counting started for the gathering seats in the wildly challenged political decision. In the Kanakapura constituency, DK Shivakumar, president of the Karnataka Congress, defeated JDS candidate B Nagaraju by 1,22,392 votes.
On May 10, the 224-member state assembly of Karnataka went to the polls, with a record turnout of 72.68 percent. To achieve majority status, a party needs 113 seats.
Also Read | Karnataka election results: 'My best wishes...'- PM Modi congratulates Congress
Also Read | Karnataka election results 2023: 'Next CM' posters seen outside Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar's house
