After registering a thumping win in Karnataka, the acid test for Congress now would be picking the chief minister with both Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief DK Shivakumar and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah eyeing the top spot.
Both the leaders will be in national capital today.
Senior party leaders Randeep Surjewala, KC Venugopal and three observers appointed by the party to oversee the process of appointing a chief minister will also land in Delhi today.Former Maharashtra CM Sushil Kumar Shinde, former General Secretary Deepak Bawaria and current general secretary Bhanwar Jitendra Singh have been made the observers in Karnataka by AICC.
As the race for the Karnataka CM post heats up, the Vokkaliga community is pushing for its tallest leader in the state, DK Shivakumar.Vokkaligas, an influential and the second most dominant caste after Lingayats, take up 16 per cent of Karnataka’s demographics.
LINGAYATS support Shivakumar
But what has come as a surprise for Shivakumar is the growing support of the Lingayat community, a dominant community that comprises nearly 17 per cent of the total 5.3 crore electorate in the state, once traditional BJP supporters.
On Thursday, DK Shivakumar met Lingayat mutt seer Siddaganga mutt in Tumkuru.In a major shift, after decades to support, traditional BJP vote bank Lingayats switched sides from BJP to Congress in Karnataka assembly elections.This tectonic shift was one of the major factors which led to a landslide victory of Congress party.
Siddaramaiah has support of 100 MLAs
Meanwhile, according to sources, congress heavyweight and party veteran Siddaramaiah team’s has the support of 100 MLAs and party observers have been informed about it.All India Congress Committee (AICC) told Siddaramaiah on call that four years of BJP’s ‘misrule needs to be fixed and for that his experience will come in handy, sources told India Today.
On Monday, Arya Ediga Community seer Pranavananda Swami met Siddharamaiah and said he has come to talk to 75-year-old leader on behalf of Edigas.When asked about support for Shivakumar or Siddharamaiah, Pranavananda Swami said, “Both are eligible candidates for CM and they can’t decide.”
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, passed a unanimous resolution authorising All India Congress Committee (AICC) President M Mallikarjun Kharge to pick its leader, who will be the next chief minister of Karnataka.
