Karnataka CM pick: Ahead of official announcement, Siddaramaiah’s supporters break into celebration

Celebrations broke out near the residence of Siddaramaiah here and at his native village in Mysuru district on Thursday morning after it emerged that he will be the next Chief Minister. Siddaramaiah’s supporters shouted slogans in his favour as the news came out that he would take oath as the CM on May 20.

The residents of Siddaramanahundi, the native village of Siddaramaiah were, in fact, jubilant since Wednesday following reports that their leader would become the chief minister again. The villagers set off crackers, raised slogans hailing Siddaramaiah and distributed sweets. His brother Sidde Gowda was confident that Siddaramaiah will be chosen for the top post.

”There’s a guarantee that Siddaramaiah will become Chief Minister. He has done good for the people. He introduced ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme giving free rice to the poor people,” Sidde Gowda told reporters in Siddaramanahundi on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, arrangements were afoot at the Kanteerava stadium in the city where the swearing-in ceremony will take place. Security has been stepped up near the residence of the Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly here and in and around the stadium where the ceremony will take place.
Siddaramaiah will be the next Chief Minister and D K Shivakumar his deputy, Congress sources said on Thursday after the party arrived at a consensus on government formation in the state following hectic parleys.

They said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge along with other stakeholders held parleys past midnight to hammer out a solution between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar — the two chief ministerial aspirants.

”It has been decided by consensus that Siddaramaiah will be the next chief minister and Shivakumar will be the deputy chief minister,” a party source said. A Congress Legislature Party meeting has been called by Shivakumar, the party’s state unit chief, here this evening. The decision will be announced there.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief has written to all legislators, asking them to attend the meeting of newly-elected MLAs, MLCs and MPs at the Indira Gandhi Bhavan on Queen’s Road at 7 pm.