Congress calls for CLP meeting in Karnataka; MLAs to elect Siddaramaiah as leader

It is learnt party chief Mallikarjun Kharge worked late into Wednesday night to break the political deadlock over installation of the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and has arrived at a consensus for government formation.

Bengaluru/New Delhi:After hectic parleys, the Congress top brass has drawn Siddaramaiah as its chief ministerial pick in Karnataka. The state unit has called for a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Bengaluru, on Thursday. The official choice for the top job among the hopefuls Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar was arrived at by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge after holding meetings late into night. A consensus on government formation too was arrived at.

Subsequently, the CLP meeting has been called by the party's state unit chief Shivakumar. The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief has written to all the legislators, asking them to attend the meeting of newly-elected MLAs, MLCs and MPs at the Indira Gandhi Bhavan on Queen's Road here at 7 pm.

The legislators attending the CLP will have to elect their leader who will go on to head the government. The leader-elect will meet the Governor and stake claims to form the government. The swearing in ceremony of Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister-designate, is likely to be held on on May 20.

Gag order-After the multiple rounds of discussions, AICC general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala said a decision on the new cabinet will be in place in the next 48-72 hours. He also claimed that Karnataka will have a five-year-long stable government of the Congress and urged people not to believe in speculation and "fake news", which he alleged was being peddled by the BJP.

In a tweet, Surjewala also said all Congress leaders have been advised not to issue statements on the leadership matter. "Any out of turn remarks made from here onwards will be treated as indiscipline and action taken accordingly."

Marathon meetings-Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal met Kharge and deliberated on government formation. Shivakumar also met Venugopal and later told reporters that "we have left it to the high command, the high command will take a call".

Siddaramaiah who met Surjewala and Venugopal late in the night as the party continued deliberations on government formation in Karnataka. Both the top contenders for the CM post have held several parleys with senior Congress leadership and presented their respective cases before them.

Siddaramaiah wins-While Siddaramaiah emerged on top, Shivakumar continued to mount his stake for the top post claiming that the assembly elections were won under his presidentship and that he has worked hard for ensuring this victory. Most of the top brass of Congress is of the opinion that Siddaramaiah's popularity cutting across several social sections including the poor, OBCs and minorities will help it fare better than BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.