'Power sharing means…': Congress after naming Siddaramaiah as K'taka CM, Shivakumar as deputy

The Congress on Thursday named Siddaramaiah as the new chief minister of Karnataka and DK Shivakumar as his deputy, bringing an end to nearly a week of speculation following the party's statement win in the 2023 Assembly election. Shivakumar - who had refused to walk back his claim to the chief ministership till late last night, when Sonia Gandhi spoke to him - will remain the Congress' Karnataka unit boss till the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Pushed on a possible power-sharing formula between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar - seen as an option to resolve the stand-off - the Congress said: "Power sharing means sharing power with the people of Karnataka… that is all."

Split terms - 2.5 years for each person - was an option, multiple media reports said this week. However, that option was scrapped because reportedly neither Siddaramaiah nor Shivakumar wanted to go second in the line-up.

READ | Siddaramaiah is K'taka CM, Shivakumar deputy and PCC chief: Cong

The two will now be sworn in on Saturday with a (unspecified) number of ministers, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters.

What did Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar say?

Shivakumar then tweeted: "Karnataka's secure future and our people's welfare is our top priority… and we (the Congress) are united in guaranteeing that."

Siddaramaiah said he had nothing more to add to the party's statement.

Days earlier Shivakumar spoke about having 'sacrificed for the party' and also said he would not 'backstab…' - a comment seen as ruling out a rebellion.

READ | 'Sometimes ice should break': Shivakumar on why he accepted dy CM

On Wednesday Shivakumar's office told Hindustan Times he had received an offer of deputy chief minister and six portfolios of his choice, indicating the Congress wanted to appoint Siddaramaiah as chief minister.

READ | DKS gets 'deputy+6 portfolios' offer, Cong warns against speculation

Why the delay in naming CM? Cong says…

Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala confirmed the appointments and said discussions between Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and other state leaders, including other claimants to the top job, were conducted in a transparent manner, reflecting the party's commitment to the democratic process.

On the delay in naming a chief minister the Congress said it was due to extensive deliberations and discussions. The party stressed that both claimants were top-notch senior leaders and each 'deserved to become chief minister'.

"We are a democratic party and consulted Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders… both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are capable of becoming chief minister," Surjewala and Venugopal told reporters.

"We believe in consensus, not dictatorship," the leaders said.

The rebuttal comes after outgoing Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai criticised the Congress Wednesday for not having named a chief minister till then.

Bommai said the failure to do so 'shows the internal situation' in the Congress and warned the party, "Aspirations of people more important than politicking."

READ | 'People's aspirations more important': Bommai's swipe at Congress

What happened after election results?

Frantic discussions have been held since the election results were declared and it became clear that neither Shivakumar nor Siddaramaiah were ready to play second fiddle, forcing the Congress into resolving a problem that threatened to steal focus from the importance of the win in Karnataka.

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have camped out in Delhi meeting senior party figures, including Rahul Gandhi and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also from Karnataka.

The resolution of the Karnataka conundrum will come as welcome relief to a Congress party eager to build on the momentum of this election win. This year and the next are crucial for the party (and the opposition) as it seeks to oust prime minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The resolution also helps the Congress contain the spectre of civil war (for now) and focus on a tense situation in Rajasthan, where an election is due amid bickering between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his ex-deputy Sachin Pilot.

READ | 'Kharge to decide on Pilot-Gehlot in Rajasthan after K'taka'

Mizoram and Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh also vote later this year, as does BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, where chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and his Bharat Rashtra Samithi are plotting a run at the Lok Sabha election.