Karnataka Election Results LIVE: Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah To Be in Delhi As Congress Puts Ball In Kharge's Court to Pick CM

“Just like they broke every promise to Rajasthan ( kisan karz maafi) & fought for post not promise they will defraud Karnataka too,” tweeted Shehzad Poonawalla, national spokesperson of BJP.

Congress observers in Karnataka will leave for Delhi in an hour to submit their report to party Chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

After the results were declared on Saturday, Congress president Kharge deputed former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh and former AICC general secretary Deepak Babaria as observers for the election of the CLP leader in Karnataka.

Having won the Karnataka elections, the Congress now seeks to find the right person to occupy the chief ministerial chair, but they are caught in a dilemma as senior leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are both strong contenders. While both the leaders are leaving no stone unturned to rally support for their candidature among the newly elected MLAs, according to insiders, Siddaramaiah has the edge. READ MORE

Siddaramaiah is said to have the support of most of the MLAs and is considered the most charismatic and popular Congress leader, according to CNN- News18 reports. As chief minister, he is expected to keep the party united. Furthermore, Siddaramaiah’s background as a member of the backward Kuruba community and the party’s appointment of a Dalit as president could boost the Congress’s image as a party that champions the cause of the underprivileged, which could help in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Posters with birthday wishes for KPCC chief DK Shivakumar have been put up outside his residence in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Aday after Congress sealed victory in the Karnataka Elections, party’s state unit president D K Shivakumar on Sunday spoke about his intent to become the chief minister and said that he has “sacrificed for the party many times.”

As the grand old party continues to brainstorm and mull the CM face for the state, Shivakumar talked about his work, patience and sacrifices through his political journey with the Congress.

Speaking to reporters Tumkur, Shivakumar said, “many times I have sacrificed for the party. I sacrificed and helped and stood with Siddaramaiah. Wasn’t I patient when I was not made a minister in the beginning? I have given cooperation to Siddaramaiah,” news agency ANI reported. READ MORE

The defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Karnataka Assembly elections is the result of its “nature” and “behaviour” and Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ definitely helped the Congress, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at Ambernath in Maharashtra’s Thane district, Thackeray said the “opposition party never wins the election, it’s the ruling party that loses in the polls”.

Thackeray said that the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Rahul Gandhi’s foot march from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, also helped in changing the fortunes of the Congress in the southern state.

“Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar–the two main contenders for the post of Karnataka Chief Minister– are expected to land in Delhi around 3:30 pm to 4 pm on Monday. Observers are expected to submit their reports to party chief Kharge before that. Siddaramaiah and DKS’s meeting with Kharge and others is expected late evening,” said sources adding that Congress may announce who will be the next CM by tomorrow.

Who will become the chief minister of Karnataka? The million-dollar question has remained unanswered so far as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) gave the power to decide the CM to party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

While the first meeting of the CLP was taking place in Bengaluru on Sunday, supporters of both Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah- the frontrunners for the CM post- were raising slogans in support of their leaders. READ MORE

A day after the announcement of Karnataka Assembly election results which saw the Congress emerging victorious with the required majority to form the government and the BJP crashing out of power, outgoing Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said “the loss is not the defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

“This is not PM Modi’s defeat as he came here only for the campaign. The Congress leadership has lost in the entire country,” he told reporters, adding: “It’s not correct to blame PM Modi for the BJP’s defeat in the state.”

The BJP leader said this while reacting to the Congress saying that “the BJP’s loss was PM Modi’s defeat”.

Following Karnataka BJP’s defeat in the Assembly polls, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai submitted his resignation to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot. The Governor has accepted the resignation, an official release said.

“We respectfully accept the decision of the people. I take the responsibility of the defeat,” Bommai told reporters.

“This time despite getting more than 36 per cent votes, we have got less number of seats. Analysis is going on, but defeat is a defeat. In the party, we will do a detailed analysis of the results, and rectify wherever required,” he added.

Compared to the previous elections, the JD-S’s performance in the recent Karnataka Assembly polls witnessed a significant decline, with the party managing to secure only 19 seats, down from 37. Moreover, the party’s vote share also decreased from 18% to 13.32%. On the other hand, the Congress party made significant progress in the Old Mysuru region, which was once considered a stronghold of JD(S) and the Vokkaliga community.

At the Karnataka Assembly elections, 14 BJP ministers including Govinda Karjol, J C Madhuswamy, B C Patil, Shankar Patil Munena Koppa, Halappa Achar, B Sriramul, Dr K Sudhakar, B C Nagesh, Murugesha Nirani, B C Patil, and M T B Nagaraj tasted defeat. V Somanna also lost from Varuna and Chamarajanagar, the two segments where he contested. Meanwhile, R Ashoka, who contested from two constituencies, was re-elected from Padmanabhanagar but lost in Kanakapura.

The Congress party has achieved its best-ever performance in Karnataka since 1999, winning a comfortable majority of 135 seats in the 224-member assembly polls held on May 10. The party has made significant gains in Old Mysuru, Mumbai Karnataka, Hyderabad Karnataka and Central Karnataka regions. Meanwhile, the BJP has managed to retain its hold only in Coastal Karnataka, and its seat tally has slumped to 65 from 104 in 2018.

As per the Election Commission of India, the Congress party won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly elections held on May 10. The BJP secured 65 seats, while JD(S) won 19 seats. Additionally, two independent candidates and one candidate each from Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each.

In a major development, the meeting of the newly-elected Congress MLAs here on Sunday unanimously resolved to authorise party President Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint new leader of the Congress Legislature Party.

With the resolution, the ball has come into the court of the high command. Sources said that the step came since former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar are not settling anything but the post of the Chief Minister.

With the ball now in Kharge’s court, lobbying for the top post is set to shift to Delhi with both the contenders expected to arrive in the national capital on Monday to meet Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the AICC chief.