All eyes on the throne

Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar during celebrations after the party’s win in Karnataka Assembly elections, in Bengaluru, on Saturday. PIC/PTI

Newly elected Congress MLAs in Karnataka on Sunday authorised party president Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the next chief minister, party sources said. The Congress Legislature Party, which met at a private hotel here Sunday evening, passed a unanimous resolution authorising the party chief to pick its leader.

‘High command to decide'

Earlier, Kharge said AICC observers will convey the opinion of the party's MLAs in Karnataka to the high command which will then take a decision on the chief ministerial pick. He also asserted that everything has gone smoothly for the party in the assembly polls and the government will be formed soon. The newly elected assembly in Karnataka has to be put in place as the term of the previous assembly expires on May 24.

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Kharge, who returned here from Karnataka in the afternoon, said the priority of the Congress was to serve the people of the state, irrespective of who voted for the party and who did not. In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress won 135 seats, while the ruling BJP and the former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19, respectively.

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"Our observers have gone to Bengaluru, they will reach in the evening. After that there will be a CLP (Congress Legislature Party) meeting following which whatever opinion is there, it will be communicated to the high command. The high command will then make its decision."

Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar are front-runners for the coveted post.

"People in Karnataka have rejected the BJP. The people who were suffering from inflation, unemployment and corruption have ensured the victory of the Congress and that too with a big majority," he said. The Congress has been given the biggest mandate and it is for a stable government in the state, he said.

Kharge said the people, particularly the poor, women, minorities and Dalits, have accepted the five guarantees of the Congress and as per their expectations, these will be implemented.

BJP fails to win even 1 ST seat

The BJP failed to win even a single seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. Besides, the party also lost in 24 constituencies out of 36 reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

Karnataka has 51 reserved constituencies, out of which 36 seats are reserved for SC candidates and 15 for candidates belonging to the ST community.

The poor show of the saffron party in the reserved seats came despite the outgoing CM Basavaraj Bommai's decision to increase reservation for the SC/ST community in the state.

Out of 36 SC seats, Congress candidates won 21, while the BJP candidates won in 12 seats. The JDS managed to win just three seats.

135
No. of seats (out of 224) the Congress won

Cong gets backing of Independent MLA

AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said Latha Mallikarjun, who has got elected as an Independent from Harapanahalli Assembly segment, has extended unconditional support to the Congress party in the State. Latha Mallikarjun is the daughter of the late M P Prakash. Prakash was a veteran socialist and Janata Parivar leader. In his last days, he had joined Congress which was continued by his son, M P Ravindra, who died in 2018.

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