Hectic consultations prove ineffective as Congress fails to choose K'taka CM for second day

The Congress could not announce a name for Karnataka Chief Minister for the second day despite hectic consultations on Tuesday within top party leadership as well as meetings party chief Mallikarjun Kharge had with aspirants Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar.

Initial indications are that the scales are tilted towards Siddaramaiah, who headed the Congress government for five years since 2013, but a tough pushback by Karnataka Congress president Shivakumar made it difficult for the central leadership to make an announcement.

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Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is presently in Shimla and is said to be returning to the capital on Tuesday night, is also being roped in before a final decision.

Kharge will be consulting Sonia and former party chief Rahul Gandhi again before finalising the choice even as he has asked both the Karnataka leaders to stay put in the capital for another day. Kharge and Rahul are also likely to have a joint meeting with the two warring leaders on Wednesday.

Sources said Kharge did not disclose the number of MLAs supporting them to both the leaders and told them it would be discussed with Sonia and Rahul.

Shivakumar is learned to have told Kharge that he took charge of the party when nobody was willing to helm the party in 2020. He also said he would like Kharge to take over as Chief Minister, indicating that he was unwilling to join a government under Siddaramaiah.

Sources said Shivakumar said he never objected earlier when Siddaramaiah was given posts in the government and legislative party and now he could do organisation work.

On his part, sources said, Siddaramaiah highlighted that he could garner the support of backward castes, Dalits and minorities and this would ensure maximum seats in Lok Sabha polls. He also highlighted his government and his clean image as well as support among MLAs.

While Shivakumar has not given up his claim, sources indicated that the tough stand by the Vokkaliga strongman comes as he wants concrete assurances on his assignment. However, there was no clarity on whether he would insist on splitting the tenure of Chief Minister between them.

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There was also no official word on whether Shivakumar would take up the post of Deputy Chief Minister if a compromise is worked out. The negotiations will also see sparks flying over plum portfolios and the number of ministerial posts for Shivakumar supporters in case he decides to throw in the towel.

During the day, Kharge held a meeting with Rahul and Congress General Secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala before having separate interactions with Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. Venugopal had separate meetings with Rahul and Siddaramaiah later while Surjewala and Siddaramaiah too had a meeting.

Sources said Kharge chose to adhere to party protocol by giving the first appointment to Shivakumar for a 30-minute meeting as he is the state party head followed by Siddaramaiah with whom he held talks for around 90 minutes.

Both Shivakumar, who refused to come to Delhi on Monday citing health reasons, and Siddaramaiah forcefully put their claim before Kharge by projecting themselves as the raison d'etre for Congress' impressive win in the Assembly elections. Both the leaders did not speak to the media in Delhi.

Sources said Shivakumar was upset with Siddaramaiah going to the media on Monday claiming that he had a majority in the legislature party when there was an understanding none of them would talk about numbers and would settle the issue after deliberations. Siddaramaiah’s interview with a news channel did not go well with Shivakumar following which he also met the press.

Several theories on the claims of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were floated throughout the day. Sources said the central leadership had brokered an agreement almost a year ago on splitting the tenure of the Chief Minister with Siddaramaiah getting the first half.

However, with the experience of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in mind, sources said Shivakumar has doubts about the success of the plan and wants a solid assurance that could not be reneged at a later date.

The counterargument from the other side is that the state unit should be led by Shivakumar till the Lok Sabha election, as a new president could not steer the party at this crucial juncture.