"Consensus, Not Dictatorship": Congress Slams Karnataka Choice Delay Buzz
NDTV
The Congress leadership's delay in announcing the Chief Minister choice sparked a buzz, with BJP's Basavaraj Bommai saying this shows a "lack of unity"
The Congress believes in "consensus, not dictatorship", party leader KC Venugopal said today as he announced Siddaramaiah as the Congress leadership's choice for the Karnataka chief minister post, four days after returned to power in the state with a thumping victory.
Today's announcement brought to an end the long-drawn deadlock due to competing claims by Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar for the top job. Mr Shivakumar will be the sole Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and continue as the state party chief till the 2024 general election, the Congress announced today.
The Congress leadership's delay in announcing the Chief Minister choice had sparked a buzz, with BJP's Basavaraj Bommai, the former chief minister, saying that this shows a "lack of unity" in the party.
Addressing the media today, Mr Venugopal, the party's general secretary in-charge of organisation, said, "We got a mandate on May 13 evening. On May 14 evening, we had a CLP (Congress legislature party) meeting. The Congress president deputed three observers. On the night of May 14 and the next morning, they held a one-to-one with each and every MLA of the Congress and submitted a report."
