Karnataka Gets New CM: Minister Says Siddaramaiah To Quit At 3 PM, DK Shivakumar Set To Take Charge | EXCLUSIVE

Karnataka

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is set to meet the Governor at 3 pm on Thursday (May 28) to submit his resignation, Karnataka Minister HK Patil told Times Now after the breakfast meeting attended by ministers and MLAs at Siddaramaiah’s residence in Bengaluru. The development is seen as the culmination of a three-year leadership tussle between Siddaramaiah and his deputy, DK Shivakumar. This power struggle repeatedly simmered within the Congress and at times threatened to overshadow the government’s functioning.Speaking exclusively to Times Now, Patil said, "CM is going to Raj Bhavan at 3 o'clock. CM Siddaramaiah will make DK Shivakumar the new CM."Patil confirmed, “Yes, DKS will be the new CM.”

Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre also reiterated the same, saying, “The Governor has been informed. Siddaramaiah will meet him at 3 o’clock. I attended the meeting. We all thanked the Chief Minister for guiding us over all these years. He will speak to you himself. He has already called a press conference and will explain everything to you.”Earlier, in the first visuals emerging from Siddaramaiah’s residence, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar was seen seeking Siddaramaiah’s blessings and hugging him warmly during the high-stakes breakfast meeting.

Speaking about the meeting, Minister G. Parameshwara said, "The Chief Minister has called all the ministers for breakfast, and before he resigns, he wants to thank all the ministers for their cooperation...I am not aware whether he (Siddaramaiah) was offered a position in Delhi; it is up to the high command..."There have been speculations about a possible change of chief minister in Karnataka for months. Supporters of Shivakumar have been insisting on his elevation in line with a reported power-sharing agreement with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when the party won the 2023 Assembly elections. There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who is also party state president, for the chief minister's post after the declaration of Assembly election results in May 2023, and the Congress had then managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy CM.There were reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a "rotational chief minister formula." However, no such discussion was made official by the Grand Old Party.