Even as Congress' Karnataka unit chief DK. Shivakumar called off his Delhi trip to meet party President Mallikarjun Kharge citing ill-health, his brother and party MP DK Suresh arrived in the national capital and said that he wants his brother to be the Chief Minister. Suresh, who arrived in the national capital late in the evening, went to Kharge's residence. "I want my brother to be the Chief Minister," he told the media after meeting Kharge, to questions if he wants his brother to hold the top post in the state.
After the meeting, Karnataka Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala while speaking to media said that the Congress will stand up to the pledge it has made to 6.5 crore Kannadigas. He said that the Congress central observers have submitted their written report to the Congress President and he will look into the report, will hold deliberations with state leaders and other central leaders and will take an appropriate call.
Earlier in the day, Congress' three central observers met Kharge at his residence on Monday, May 15, and held deliberations over government formation in Karnataka.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, General Secretary Jitendra Singh and party leader Deepak Babaria met Kharge at his residence along with party General Secretary, Organisation, KC Venugopal and General Secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Shinde, Singh and Bawaria were deputed as observers for the Karnataka CLP meeting by Kharge on May 14, Sunday afternoon. The observers had returned from Bengaluru on Monday afternoon, after they had held discussion with the party MLAs in the state on Sunday evening. They had taken the views of the newly elected MLAs in Bengaluru in one-on-one interactions late on Sunday night.
The party sources indicated that the observers informed Kharge of the views of MLAs on the new Chief Minister and the government formation in Karnataka.
Meanwhile, speaking to media outside the residence of Kharge after arriving from Bengaluru, Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain said, "On May 13, the results were announced, on May 14, the CLP meeting was held and on May 15 all the observers came to Delhi."
"In Delhi, we have our senior leadership, where party chief Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are here and here we have General Secretary, Organisation (Venugopal) and General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka (Surjewala) too. So they will discuss what is best for the state, what is best for the people of the state and what is best for the state Congress. As the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are next year, we will discuss accordingly," Hussain said, who is also the whip of the CPP in Rajya Sabha.
Asked if any announcement will be made by Tuesday, May 16, Hussain said, "We will do as soon as we can, as well as we will have to make preparations for the oath ceremony."
About the relative prospects of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, he said: "Both of them are senior leaders and both of them fought from the front, both of them have strengthened the Congress, both of them have built the campaign against the BJP and worked hard. But only one can become the CM. But let's see what the opinion of the CLP is."
He further said that the name of the next Karnataka CM will be announced in the coming 24 hours.
The Congress leadership had called both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for further discussions. While Siddaramaiah has also arrived in the national capital, Shivakumar said that he would leave for the national capital but then announced that he had called his trip off as he was not well.
Shivakumar had told media persons that he had stood with the party through its thick and thin and that even when many party legislators had ditched the party, he worked hard and rebuilt the party from scratch.