K'taka CM Tussle: Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah Refuse to Budge

Bengaluru, May 17 (IANS) The impasse over the selection of Karnataka's next Chief Minister continued on a fourth day on Wednesday with both Siddaramaiah and state Congress president D.K. Shivakumar not settling for anything lesser than the coveted post.

The Congress high command is hopeful of somehow finding a solution during a meeting on Wednesday in New Delhi.

Senior leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge will speak to Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, party sources stated.

Shivakumar is claiming that after for nearly 25 years, Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities have voted for the Congress because of him and if he was not made the Chief Minister, the party would lose their support, according to the sources.

He refused to accept the post of Deputy Chief Minister and flatly declined to work with Siddaramaiah.

Shivakumar told Kharge that instead he will remain an MLA and would not indulge in anti-party activities.

He also told him that he will extend his full support if Kharge himself becomes the Chief Minister.

On the other hand, Siddaramaiah is citing the criminal cases against Shivakumar and arguing that if the latter is made named the Chief Minister, the BJP will use it to attack the Congress at the national level.

Siddaramaiah stressed that the Ahinda vote bank has propelled the Congress to victory and he was their leader.

If he is not made the Chief Minister, Congress will lose next year's Lok Sabha elections, the sources explained.

Shivakumar has told Kharge that Dalits and minority votes were always there with Congress and Siddaramaiah cannot own them.

Kharge is also the reason for consolidation of votes of oppressed classes for the Congress party, the sources said.

Shivakumar defended that party very well when he was targeted and sent to jail by BJP for standing by the Congress party.

The high command is carefully considering the claims.

As the Congress leadership wants to send a message to the country from Karnataka, it does not want anything to go wrong which would spoil the momentum.