‘Not happy… but long way to go’: D K Shivakumar’s brother D K Suresh confirms power sharing

NEW DELHI: After the Congress party high command chose KPCC president D K Shivakumar as the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Congress MP D K Suresh said that he was not happy with the decision and wished for the chief ministerial post for his brother.

The Congress is all set to anoint Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister of Karnataka, and a formal announcement on the same is set to be made at a meeting of the Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting on Thursday evening in Bengaluru.

“I don’t think I am fully happy, but in the interest of Karnataka, the commitment we have given to the people of Karnataka, and Kannadigas, we have to fulfill those. So, that’s why the party and D K Shivakumar and everybody had to accept the decision. In future, let us see, it’s a long run to go. I wished for Shivakumar to become Chief Minister, but it didn’t happen. We’ll wait and see”, said DK Suresh.

Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, along with party general secretaries Randeep Surjewala and K C Venugopal had breakfast at the latter’s residence on Thursday morning.

The oath-taking ceremony is set to be held in Bengaluru on May 20. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will extend an invitation to opposition leaders to attend the swearing-in ceremony, sources said, adding that the Gandhis, Congress chief ministers and senior Congress leaders will attend the event in Bengaluru.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Shivakumar has written to all the legislators, asking them to attend the meeting of the newly-elected MLAs, MLCs and MPs at the Indira Gandhi Bhavan on Queen’s Road at 7 pm on Thursday in Bengaluru.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah after arriving at a consensus on the chief ministerial candidate late on Wednesday night.

According to sources, Congress president Kharge worked till late on Wednesday night to break the political deadlock over the next chief minister and arrived at a consensus for government formation. Central observers from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) have been asked to reach Bengaluru to conduct the CLP meeting.

Meanwhile, security was stepped up and banners were also put up outside Congress leader Siddaramaiah’s residence. The Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats. (ANI)