Karnataka Election Result 2023: Siddaramaiah or DK Shivakumar? As Congress wins, focus shifts to CM face

As the counting of votes continues, the Congress party, which is leading in 129 seats, has gone into a huddle to decide on the next chief minister.

Hectic meetings are on at Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Bengaluru, with AICC general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, Shivakumar and former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara among others.

However, choosing a Chief Ministerial candidate will not be easy for the Congress as both the top candidates, veteran leader Siddaramaiah and State Congress chief DK Shivakumar are high command’s favourites. Although there is a power tussle, the two leaders haven’t shown any disrespect or disregard to each other either.

According to ZEE News, Siddaramaiah will be the next Karnataka Chief Minister.

State Congress chief DK Shivakumar – widely credited for party resurrection in Karnataka – will initially get a plum post in the government, and later, he will take over as the Chief Minister, the sources added.

Earlier, agreeing that Shivakumar or DKS is a contender, Siddaramaiah had said that the practice is that the Congress has never projected a chief minister, particularly in Karnataka, adding that the party follows a very democratic process. The elected MLAs will decide and will give their opinion and then the high command will take a decision, he explained.

Echoing Siddaramaiah’s views, Congress leader K Rahman Khan on Saturday said that the CLP will decide the next CM.

Meanwhile, party cadres say that Siddaramaiah is a more senior leader and he has the experience of running a government while DKS is the challenger. The final decision will be of the high command.

Also, Shivakumar is considered as the organisation’s favorite and Siddaramaiah is still the party’s most popular leader in the state and a crowd puller.

As per the Election Commission, Congress is heading towards a landslide victory in the state, leading in close to 130 seats, while BJP is leading in 69 constituencies. The HD Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal-Secular is a distant third with less than 30 seats in its kitty.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar said that the party will not be moving any of its MLAs to a resort until the assembly poll results are announced on Saturday.

Karnataka voted in a single phase on Wednesday and recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout, according to the state’s chief electoral officer.

Many see the Karnataka election offering hints about how PM Modi may fare in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.