Siddaramaiah to be CM, DK Shivakumar his deputy, Venugopal makes official announcement on Karnataka CM

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah will be the next chief minister of Karnataka and DK Shivkumar will be his deputy, according to the reports. The Congress party has reached the decision with the two leaders agreeing to a rotational formula. Siddaramaiah will be the CM for a period of 2.5 years. After which, Shivakumar will be takeover as the CM. The swearing-in ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 20, 2023."We decided to make Siddaramaiah Karnataka CM and DK Shivakumar the only deputy CM of the state. He will continue as the PCC president till the parliament election is over," Venugopal announced. “We were trying for consensus over the past two to three days. Both (Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar) worked for the party. They are big assets for the party in Karnataka. It is a good combination. They both deserve it," Venugopal said while addressing a press briefing here. 

Karnataka's new deputy CM, DK Shivakumar said he agreed to a compromise in the larger interest of the party. "We have a commitment before the people of Karnataka. Parliament elections are ahead. So, I have to bow to the AICC president and the Gandhi family. In the larger interest of the party (I have agreed to the formula) and why not, because sometimes the ice should break. Ultimately, there is a responsibility towards what we have a commitment to the people of Karnataka and we have to deliver," he said. Karnataka Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar along with the party's state in-charge Randeep Surjewala held a breakfast meeting with the party's general secretary-organisation KC Venugopal earlier today. Media reports stated that former Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday evening had a conversation with DK Shivakumar, who had been firm on his demand for the Chief Minister post, to resolve the issue. In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory by bagging 135 seats while the ruling BJP and the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.