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Shivakumar said Siddaramaiah was the Leader of the Opposition twice and served a full five-year term as the chief minister. (Photo: News18)
The Varuna MLA said he is fit for the post and has submitted a list of his achievements during his tenure as the chief minister between 2013 to 2018, sources said
Two frontrunners for the Karnataka CM post- DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah- met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Tuesday and expressed their views on who should head the government in the state where the party registered a landslide victory in the assembly elections.
According to sources, Shivakumar said he has no problem if Kharge becomes the chief minister. However, he said if he is not given the CM post then he will sit as an MLA in the assembly and he is not open to any other offer.
The Kanakapura MLA also informed Kharge about Siddaramaiah’s mistakes since 2006, the year when the former CM joined the Congress. Shivakumar said Siddaramaiah was the Leader of the Opposition twice and served a full five-year term as the chief minister.
“Since Siddaramaiah has come (joined Congress), he has been in power either as the LoP or as CM so much so that even you could not be CM. If you are becoming CM, I have no objection,” Shivakumar told Kharge, as per sources.
He highlighted that he has worked for the party while Siddaramaiah has not contributed to building the organization and has just enjoyed power. In the worst case, Shivakumar said a Dalit should be made the chief minister but not Siddaramaiah.
On the other hand, sources said Siddaramaiah asked Kharge to go by the views of the majority of MLAs. He said whoever enjoys the support is naturally the popular choice.
The Varuna MLA said he is fit for the post and has submitted a list of his achievements during his tenure as the chief minister between 2013 to 2018, sources said.
Ahead of these crucial meetings, Kharge had a discussion with former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi where reportedly the final name for the CM post has been already decided.
Hindustan Times has quoted media reports as claiming that Gandhi has supported the name of Siddaramaiah for the CM post. The Congress has also thought about the rotational CM post formula to avoid any infighting with the party, reports claimed.
Before meeting Kharge, Shivakumar told the media that the Congress party is his mother and there was no question of his resigning from the organisation. He responded when asked about several media reports claiming that he resigned from the party over CM post-battle.
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