New Delhi:
The Congress on Wednesday kept up the suspense over its Chief Ministerial candidate in Karnataka, saying it has a "galaxy of leaders" for the top job.
"There are several tall leaders. We have great respect for Siddharamiah, Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, S M Krishna and Oscar Fernandes.
"We have galaxy of stalwarts who are capable (of becoming the Chief Minister)," party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary told reporters in Delhi.
She was responding to a question whether Siddharamiah, being the CLP leader, is the natural choice for the Chief Minister.
"There are several people who contributed to the party's victory," Ms Chowdhary said.
A section in the party earlier maintained Siddharamiah was the natural face of the party in the election.
However, the names of Mr Kharge, Mr Moily and PCC chief G Parameswara also did the rounds as serious contenders for the top job even before the results were out.
Mr Parameshwara lost in Koratagere in Tumkur district to a JD(S) candidate. Senior Congress leader and former Union Civil Aviation Minister C M Ibrahim bit the dust in Bhadrawati.
Buoyed by the victory, the party spokesperson expressed confidence that people would repose their faith in Congress even in 2014 general elections and dismissed the contention that the issue of corruption could damage Congress in the next Lok Sabha polls as it did the BJP in Karnataka.
She said the Congress would not have to pay the same price as the party had also carried out many development programmes and whenever it had made mistakes or perceived mistakes, "our action is louder than words".