Siddaramaiah formally elected CLP leader, stakes claim to form govt in Karnataka

Bengaluru: A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Thursday formally elected Siddaramaiah as its leader and Chief Minister of Karnataka, following which he met the Governor and staked his claim to form the government in the state.

Ending days of suspense, the Congress central leadership earlier on Thursday announced that Siddaramaiah would be the chief minister, while state party chief D K Shivakumar would be his only deputy in the soon-to-formed cabinet.

The meeting of newly-elected Congress MLAs, MLCs and MPs, which took place at Indira Gandhi Bhavan here, was also attended by AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and two other central observers -- former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh.

According to Surjewala, Shivakumar moved a resolution to elect Siddaramaiah as the new leader of the CLP. All the members of the CLP endorsed it unanimously.

Following this, Siddaramaiah along with Shivakumar and other Congress leaders met Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at Raj Bhavan here and staked his claim to form the government in the state.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who were in a tight race for the top post, will take oath on May 20 at 12.30 PM along with a group of ministers-designate.

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