Relented due to Sonia, Rahul advice: DK Shivakumar opens up on missing CM post

www.mangaloretoday.com

Bengaluru, June 4, 2023: Weeks after Congress won the Karnataka Assembly polls and Siddaramaiah was picked to be chief minister, DK Shivakumar on Saturday broke his silence over accepting the post of Deputy CM. While addressing a gathering in Ramanagara, the veteran Congress leader said that he gave up on his ambition to be CM after Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi gave him some advice.

"You voted for me in large numbers to make me the chief minister, but high command made a decision. Senior leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge gave me some advice. I had to bow down to their advice. Now, I must remain patient and wait, but whatever you want won’t let it go in vain," Shivakumar said while addressing a gathering at Ramanagara.

Karnataka went to polls on May 10 and subsequent results were announced on May 13, in which Congress emerged victorious. It took four days for the Congress high command in Delhi to break the deadlock and choose a leader for the CM post between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.

Multiple rounds of discussions were held with both leaders by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge but the deadlock continued over power sharing. Both leaders wanted the coveted top post, but with the majority of MLAs siding with Siddaramaiah, he got the backing of the party leadership. Siddarmaiah is currently serving his second term as chief minister of Karnataka.

It was reported that Congress made two offers to DK Shivakumar on Wednesday. Sources said the first option was to give Shivakumar the post of Deputy Chief Minister alongside his current role -- heading the state party unit. He was also offered six ministries of his choice.

DK Shivakumar was also reportedly offered a power-sharing pact with Siddaramaiah being the chief minister for the first half and him being on the next term. According to sources, Shivakumar agreed to the power-sharing pact but wanted the top post for the first half of the five-year tenure.