Karnataka Min says Siddaramaiah will be CM for 5 years; Dy CM points at Congress high command

Bengaluru: Amid speculations that a “power sharing or rotational CM” arrangement has been brokered by Congress high command between Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar ahead of the government formation in Karnataka, a senior minister’s statement that the former would remain the Chief Minister for the full five year term has created some flutters within the ruling party circles.

Denying talks about power sharing and speculations that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will take over as CM after two-and-half years or after 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Minister M B Patil on Monday evening said Siddaramaiah will remain the chief minister for a full five year term. Seemingly upset by the statement, while Shivakumar not wanting to react, said that the high command will take care of it, his brother and Bangalore Rural MP D K Suresh said he too can sharply respond to what Patil has said, but will not do so.

With both chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and state Congress president D K Shivakumar digging in their heels, prolonged parleys involving the Congress central leadership had preceded their appointment as chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively last week. There have been reports quoting party sources that the

high command had put forward the proposal of rotational chief ministers to break the deadlock. “Siddaramaiah will be chief minister for

five years. If there was power sharing or anything, our leadership would have told you (media). There is no such thing. As our AICC General Secretary has said things are continuing,” Patil had said on Monday.

To a question on discussions that the chief minister will change after Lok Sabha polls and Shivakumar would become CM, he said: “If such things were there, our AICC General Secretary would have told you, when he did the press conference. He said there is no such thing.”

Patil, today, clarified that his statement on Monday was the reiteration what AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal had said, soon after announcing the names of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar as CM and Deputy CM.