Siddaramaiah is all set to be sworn in as the 22nd Chief Minister of Karnataka. He emerged as the choice of majority of the MlAs.
After prolonged parleys with party MlAs on Thursday and secret ballot, the Congress team of observers led by Defence Minister AK Antony announced that Siddaramaiah will be the ClP leader.
He will be sworn in on Monday. His name was officially seconded by HK Patil, Roshan Baig, Shyamanur Shivashankarappa and DK Shivakumar.
Contrary to Congress tradition of nominating the Chief Minister from 10 Janpath, the observers took a quick
decision after eliciting opinion from all the MlAs. Earlier, Siddaramaiah moved a resolution requesting that the choice of ClP leadership be left to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. However, secret ballot route was adopted by the observers.
The day began with hectic parleys at the Queens Road Congress office amid reports that Union labour Minister Mallikharjuna Kharge was staking claim. later,
Kharge withdrew from the contest and most of the legislatures supported Siddaramaiah for the post.
The AICC observers, comprising Antony, Congress general secretary in-charge of the State Madhusudan Mistri, luizinho Faleiro, who was Karnataka's candidates screening committee chairman, and Union Minister Jitendra Singh, congratulated the newly elected Congress MlAs.
A highly-placed Congress source told The Pioneer that Union labour Minister Kharge will be rewarded with the lucrative Railway Ministry in the next Cabinet reshuffle.
Siddaramaiah, 65, told The Pioneer that he didn't believe in politics of revenge. He added, "I want to take everyone together for the development of the State. I will continue to strive for the cause of Dalits and Backward classes. People have given a comfortable mandate to give a stable Government."
A powerful backward class (Kuruba) leader from the old Mysore region, Siddaramaiah has twice been Deputy Chief Minister of the State. He was first elected as MlA in 1983 on a Janata Party ticket. Even though Siddaramaiah was a late entrant in the Congress, with his backward class consolidation, he helped the party in a big way. Siddaramaiah was groomed by late RK Hegde. In 1978, Siddaramaiah began his political career when he was elected to the Mysore Taluk Board. He entered the 7th Karnataka legislative Assembly in 1983. It was a surprise victory and it earned him name and fame in the Old Mysore region. He was Animal Husbandry Minister in Hegde's Cabinet.
After the split in the Janata Dal, Siddaramaiah joined the JD(S)-led by HD Deve Gowda and became the president of its State unit. Following differences with Gowda, Siddaramaiah joined the Congress in 2006. He was elected to the Assembly two years later and appointed as the ClP leader. later he joined the ruling Janata Party and became the first president of Kannada Watchdog Committee (Kannada Kavalu Samiti) set up to supervise the implementation of Kannada as official language. During the mid-term polls in 1985, Siddaramaiah was re-elected from the same constituency and became Minister for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services. In Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde's Government, he handled diverse portfolios such as Sericulture, Animal Husbandry and Transport portfolios during different stages.
He failed to retain his Assembly seat in 1989. later in 1992 he was appointed Secretary General of Janata Dal, which gained strength after HD Deve Gowda joined hands with Hegde.
He was elected again in the 1994 State Elections and became the Minister for Finance in the Janata Dal Government headed by Deve Gowda. He was made Deputy Chief Minister when JH Patel became Chief Minister in 1996. After the split in the Janata Dal, he joined the Janata Dal (Secular) faction of Deve Gowda and became the president of its State unit. However, he lost in the 1999 State elections. In 2004, when the Indian National Congress and JDS formed a coalition Government with Dharam Singh as Chief Minister, he was again appointed as Deputy Chief Minister.
In 2006, after differences with his mentor Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah joined the Congress. He won the Chamundeshwari bypolls by a slender margin of 257 votes against Shivabasappa who was the joint candidate of the BJP and the JD(S). In the 2008 state Assembly elections, he contested from Varuna Constituency and was re-elected for the fifth time. He won 2013 election from the same constituency on May 8, 2013.