The suspense over Karnataka’s next chief minister continued on Tuesday as the Congress’ high command is yet to announce its decision after a massive win in the southern state on Saturday. In the CM race are senior leaders DK Shivakumar, who is the Karnataka Congress’ president, and Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of opposition.

KPCC chief DK Shivakumar is likely to travel to Delhi to meet the central leadership of the party today after cancelling his visit yesterday due to a stomach infection. After a long Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, leaders decided to hand over the responsibility of choosing Karnataka’s next CM to the party’s national president, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Kharge is set to make his decision after consulting UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and going through the Congress central observers’ report, which was submitted yesterday. He is expected to announce a name today.

Karnataka has been witnessing factionalism within the party as fanatics of both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar made camps of their own and raised the slogans in a show of strength. The leaders have both however denied speculations of a growing rift and put up a united front.

The Congress party secured 135 seats in the May 10 assembly election in Karnataka, emerging as the single largest party and giving the state a decisive mandate. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) won 66 seats, while regional party, the Janata Dal (Secular) managed to get 19 seats. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
Karnataka’s Congress Chief DK Shivakumar has reached New Delhi on Tuesday afternoon for a crucial meeting with the high command, ahead of announcing the new CM candidate in Karnataka. DK Shivakumar, who is in the CM race, is set to meet Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and explain his terms.
Congress observer Deepak Bawaria on Tuesday said that the decision on finalising the new Karnataka CM is expected by this evening. The Congress central observers report, with opinions of newly-elected MLAs, was submitted yesterday.
As Congress party leaders from newly-elected MLAs to senior officials including Rahul Gandhi flocked to Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Tuesday for a meeting on deciding the next CM of Karnataka, Pramod Tiwari was also seen arriving at the party president’s residence in Delhi, where he said the decision will be taken in a democratic manner.