According to sources, the new chief minister of Karnataka and the cabinet will take the oath of office on Thursday.
The key test for Congress today, following its resounding victory in Karnataka, will be choosing the next chief minister. State chief DK Shivakumar and senior politician Siddaramaiah are both interested in the position. On Sunday, a group of observers sent by the Congress met with the newly elected Karnataka MLAs to gather their opinion on who ought to hold the top position. At 10 a.m., the delegation will travel to Delhi to meet with members of the national leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Both Mr. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are anticipated in the capital later today to meet with the party leadership, with the lobbying for the Chief Minister poised to shift to Delhi. However, sources claim that both leaders have been instructed to hold off and only travel to Delhi when specifically requested by the party.
Following the meeting of its Karnataka MLAs yesterday evening, the party declared that Mr. Kharge will ultimately make the choice. The meeting’s observers included the general secretaries of the Congress, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Deepak Babaria, and Jitendra Singh Alwar.
Both Mr. Shivakumar, an eight-time MLA, and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have openly expressed a desire to hold the position of Chief Minister and have previously engaged in a game of political one-upmanship.
Siddaramaiah has a pan-Karnataka appeal, whilst the 60-year-old DK Shivakumar is regarded as a “troubleshooter” for Congress.
Congress sets record with victory in Karnataka assembly elections
The problem of suppressing factionalism had been placed before Congress as it reached the campaign phase. The party presented a united face after capturing 135 of the 224 seats in the Karnataka assembly, with Mr. Kharge and the two candidates for chief minister speaking to the media and party workers together.
In terms of seats and vote share, the victory for Congress set a record that has stood for more than 30 years. The 1999 election, when it gained 132 seats and earned a vote share of 40.84 percent, was the closest the Congress has ever come to this result. It received 43.76% of the vote in 1989 and gained 178 seats.
Compared to its 104 seats in the state election of 2018, the BJP only got 66 seats. None of the seats designated for Scheduled Tribes (ST) were won by it. There are 51 reserved seats in Karnataka, 36 of which are for candidates from Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15, respectively.
Congress Gears Up for 2024 Elections
After the party’s dominant victory in the crucial assembly elections held in the southern state, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge is anticipated to make a formal announcement in this regard on Monday. Highly placed sources have indicated that senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and party state unit president D K Shivakumar will be his deputy.
Randeep Singh Surjewala, a senior in the Congress and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) representative for Karnataka announced Sunday night that party leader Mallikarjun Kharge would shortly announce the name of the new chief minister of Karnataka.
After winning in Karnataka, Congress is reportedly looking to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress wants to capitalise on Siddaramaiah’s widespread support throughout the state for the same. In preparation for the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party is now attempting to present Siddaramaiah as its primary “face” and Shivakumar as the manager.
Siddaramaiah’s AHINDA Factor Fuels Congress Victory
The Congress thinks that their success was largely due to Karnataka’s well-known AHINDA formula. The Kannada abbreviation “ahinda” stands for “backward classes,” “dalitaru,” and “Alpasankhyataru,” or minorities. According to reports, Siddaramaiah has a strong following in these communities and is an expert at controlling his vote bank. The party doesn’t want to oppose Siddaramaiah because of his history of insurrection against Janata Dal faction chiefs for the same reason.
DK Shivakumar made a number of significant public signals earlier in the day about his aspirations for the top position. The high command decided to give Shivakumar top ministries of the state in order to appease him because he was seen as crucial to the Congress triumph in Karnataka.Â
After decisively beating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka on Saturday, the Congress party faced the difficult task of choosing the state’s next chief minister amid rumours that Siddaramaiah was the front-runner, followed by state party president DK Shivakumar. In preparation for the election of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the state of Karnataka, Kharge had earlier in the day designated three observers there, including former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and party officials Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria.
