"Democratic Process": Siddaramaiah On Congress' Chief Minister Pick | Read

Rifts within the Congress ahead of the state election in Karnataka is very much there, senior party leader Siddaramaiah made it clear today with his comments against longtime rival DK Shivakumar, who is now the state party chief. Conceding that both he and Mr Shivakumar are contenders for the top post, Mr Siddaramaiah claimed that the high command will not intervene to pick the next Chief Minister if Congress comes to power as the elected MLAs have to make a choice. "No, that won't happen at all.  Because we have to go by the democratic process. The high command won't take a decision on its own. Go by the opinion of the newly elected MLAs," Mr Siddaramaiah told NDTV in an exclusive interview when asked about the possibility. Mr Shivakumar, the trouble shooter of the Congress in the state, was tasked with heading the unit in July 2020, replacing Dinesh Gundu Rao, a Siddaramaiah loyalist.