A Congress MLA on Saturday claimed that Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will become Chief Minister on January 6. It was Ramanagara MLA H A Iqbal Hussain who made the claim before the media, saying that Siddaramaiah should vacate the office to give Shivakumar an opportunity.
"There is a 99 per cent chance that he becomes Chief Minister on January 6," Hussain, who is a staunch supporter of Shivakumar, said.
When asked what significance the date has, he said, "I don't know. It's just a random number. Everybody is saying this. It can either be January 6 or 9. These are the two dates."
In November, a group of Congress legislators and a few ministers had visited Delhi to meet the Congress high command. The faction had reportedly reached the national capital to convince the Delhi high command to make Shivakumar the Chief Minister of the state, replacing Siddaramaiah. Hussain was part of this group which met Congress's top brass in the national capital.
When the Congress was elected to power in the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections, there was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the Chief Minister's post. Though neither leader expressed their displeasure in public, after several rounds of discussion, senior Congress leaders managed to broker a formula, making Siddaramaiah the Chief Minister and Shivakumar Deputy CM.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Railways and a BJP MP, V Somanna, said that he is supporting Home Minister G Parameshwara for the CM post.
"Getting power is luck. I never dreamt that Parameshwara would remain just as the Home Minister. It is our wish to see him as CM. Not just me but the people of Tumakuru have this desire to see him as the CM," Somanna said at a programme in Tumakuru.
When someone from the audience asked about D K Shivakumar, who is a strong contender for the post, Somanna said, "Leave it. That's secondary. What Shivakumar wants to become depends on his luck. Conduct is even bigger than luck."