BENGALURU: Taking a jibe at the Congress party over the delay in deciding the Karnataka Chief Minister, former CM Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that it shows a lack of unity in the party despite getting a full majority.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, the former CM said that the people of Karnataka voted for the Congress party, so it must work to bring development in the state.
“Delay in deciding the CM, despite getting a full majority, shows a lack of unity in the party. The Congress party must stop playing politics, select a new CM and serve the people by forming the government”, Bommai said. Bommai added that it is the internal issue of the Congress party and he would not like to talk further about it.
Talking about the Lingayat community in the state, Bommai said “The Congress leaders have been speaking a lot about the Lingayat community, so we will wait and see what posts they (Congress) will give to the Lingayats including the chief minister and deputy chief minister posts”.
Meanwhile, mystery still prevails as the Congress party refrained from making any official announcement yet on who will be the chief minister of Karnataka. The names of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah have been raised by different groups in the party, but the Congress leaders haven’t made any comments on it yet.
Earlier today, Shivakumar met with Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge at his house. The KPCC chief did not answer media questions.
Calling Rahul Gandhi a “Jannayak” – leader of the people – the official media handle of Congress tweeted, “Rahul Gandhi ji met DK Shivakumar ji and Siddaramaiah ji after the landslide victory in Karnataka”, sharing pictures of both.
Earlier Congress’ Karnataka-in-charge Randeep Surjewala said that a decision on the next Karnataka chief minister will be announced today or tomorrow and a new cabinet will be in place within 72 hours.
Surjewala also dismissed speculative reports that Siddaramaiah was likely to be named the chief minister once again. “Delibrations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka,” he told reporters.
The Congress leader said that consultations are still on and urged the media to not report on speculation or heed to fake information.
Four days since Congress registered an emphatic victory in the Assembly polls by wresting power from the Bharatiya Janata Party, still, the State is yet to get a Chief Minister.
The Congress legislative party met late evening on Sunday in Bengaluru and passed a one-line resolution empowering Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the head of the legislative party.
The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka after winning the May 10 assembly election. It won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. (ANI)