Govt formation in Karnataka: Congress Legislature Party meeting to be held on May 18 evening

As suspense continues over the formation of a new government in Karnataka, a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting has been called by the party’s state unit chief D K Shivakumar here on Thursday evening.

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

Hectic parleys were held on Wednesday to break the deadlock in deciding on the Congress’s chief ministerial pick in Karnataka, with both the hopefuls — Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar — presenting their cases before the top brass even as the party asserted that an outcome is likely within a day or two.

After the multiple rounds of discussions, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala said a decision on the new cabinet will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.

In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory by bagging 135 seats, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats respectively.