'All the best', outgoing CM Bommai wishes Congress CM aspirants Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar

Outgoing Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday wished "all the best" to Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, who are in the race to become the next Chief Minister of Karnataka.

The newly-elected Congress MLAs in Karnataka are meeting here this evening to discuss government formation with leaders eliciting their views on the Chief Ministerial candidate. Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President D K Shivakumar are strong claimants and front-runners for the coveted post.

"I wish both of them all the best," Bommai told reporters here.

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He was responding to a question as to what he would like to tell Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who are in the race to become the Chief Minister, as a friend.

To a question how will BJP focus on Congress implementing its manifesto, Bommai said, "Let them form the government and have the cabinet meet and spell out their decisions, let's see what will be implemented, let's wait and watch."

The Congress has promised to implement ‘guarantees’ — 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti), on the very first day, on coming to power in the state.

In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory with 135 seats, while the ruling BJP and the former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19, respectively. Following BJP's defeat, Bommai had on Saturday night submitted his resignation letter to the Karnataka Governor.