The Congress legislative party (CLP), which met on Sunday evening, authorised AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the new Karnataka chief minister.
The CLP meeting passed a one-line resolution, saying, “The Congress Legislature Party unanimously resolves that AICC President is hereby authorised to appoint the new Leader of the Congress Legislature Party.”
According to media reports, the chief minister and the cabinet are expected to take oath on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Kharge had said AICC observers would convey the opinion of the party’s MLAs in Karnataka to the high command which will then take a decision on the chief ministerial pick.
He had asserted that the priority of the Congress was to serve the people of the state, irrespective of who voted for the party and who did not.
The hectic lobbying is still in process for the post of Chief Minister between state Congress President DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition (LoP) and former CM Siddaramaiah. Party sources claimed that Siddaramaiah is the front-runner for the post of Chief Minister. There will be one CM, one deputy CM and around 25 ministers will be sworn in during the oath ceremony.
As per sources, the name of Chief Minister candidate will be announced in the next two-three days and oath ceremony is likely to take place on May 18 (Thursday). Additionally, for the initial two years, Siddaramaiah will be the chief minister of the state and for the next three years, DK Shivakumar to take charge as CM of Karnataka.
In the initial stage, Shivakumar will be allotted two important portfolios and he will serve as Deputy CM at this time.
