राजनीति

Congress MLAs authorise Kharge to choose next Karnataka CM

A day after , the 135 newly-elected Congress MLAs met in Bengaluru Sunday evening and passed a one-line resolution authorising

The resolution came amidst sloganeering by supporters of state party president D K Shivakumar and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah who had gathered outside the hotel where the MLAs were in a meeting to select the CLP leader and thereby the new Chief Minister of Karnataka.

AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala said the resolution authorising the AICC president was moved by Siddaramaiah and was endorsed by all the newly-elected legislators of the party. “The process of seeking opinions of individual legislators will start next,” he said.

The views of MLAs would be conveyed to the party high command. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the process of gathering individual opinion of MLAs would be completed ‘today (Sunday) itself’. Earlier during the day, Kharge had deputed former Maharashtra CM Sushilkumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh, General Secretary and Deepak Babaria, former General Secretary as observers for the election of the CLP leader.

The Congress has reportedly proposed a shared tenure for the two leaders, but there has been no agreement between the two on this. On Saturday, Kharge had said the Congress party “will form the government under the leadership of Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar” indicating the tenure may be shared. Sources said former Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara, a Dalit, is also a contender for the CM’s post. The state has not had a Dalit CM so far.

Siddaramaiah who has been the leader of the Congress in the state legislature during the 15th Assembly is believed to enjoy the support of a larger number of the 135 Congress MLAs elected for the 16th Assembly. Shivakumar, on the other hand, is relying on his loyalty to the Congress high command and work as KPCC chief to stake a claim to become the CLP leader and the next CM of the state.

To bolster his claim as CLP leader, Siddaramaiah had held a meeting with a few of the legislators who backed him. He also met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge before the latter departed to New at noon. Shivakumar also pushed his case. During the day, he visited temples in districts dominated by the Vokkaliga community, and sought support from legislators elected from the community. Vokkaliga seer Nirmalananda Natha Swamiji of Adi Chunchanagiri supported Shivakumar as the CM candidate and asked the Congress leadership to consider him. Vachananda Swami, a Lingayat seer, also said Shivakumar would be an apt candidate.

The first resolution passed by the CLP thanked the people of the state and Congress leaders for the “stellar work” in ensuring the protection of Karnataka and democracy. Resolving to work determinedly and unitedly to give a responsible, accountable, transparent government, it said, “Serving the 6.5 crore Kannadigas will be our sole motto and guiding light.” It also said the party would fulfil the five guarantees – Rs 2,000 a month to every woman head of a house, Rs 3,000 a month to unemployed graduates and Rs 1.500 to unemployed diploma holders, 10 kg rise per person per month to BPL families, 200 units of free electricity to every household, and free bus tickets to women in the state.

The meeting of the CLP to select the leader commenced at around 7 pm at a private hotel in the city. Ahead of the meeting, there was speculation that the state Congress unit would put the ball in the court of the party high command, and pass a one-line resolution. Even as the meeting was on, supporters of Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah kept shouting slogans, with a large posse of police personnel trying to keep the crowd in control.