Will Siddaramaiah be CM for 5 years?

Bengaluru: Amid speculations that a "power sharing or rotational CM" arrangement has been brokered by Congress high command between Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar ahead of the government formation in Karnataka, a senior minister's statement that the former would remain the Chief Minister for the full five year term has created some flutters within the ruling party circles.

Denying talks about power sharing and speculations that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will take over as CM after two-and-half years or after 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Minister M B Patil on Monday evening said Siddaramaiah will remain the Chief Minister for a full five year term.

Seemingly upset by the statement, while Shivakumar not wanting to react said that the high command will take care of it, his brother and Bangalore Rural MP D K Suresh said he too can sharply respond to what Patil has said, but will not do so. With both chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and state Congress President D K Shivakumar digging in their heels, prolonged parleys involving the Congress central leadership had preceded their appointment as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively last week.

There have been reports quoting party sources that the high command had put forward the proposal of rotational Chief Ministers to break the deadlock.