High command decides CM post, not support of MLAs: DK Shivakumar 'counters' Siddaramaiah

'I know Congress. It doesn’t work (based on the support of MLAs). The CM and I have said that we’d follow whatever the party decides.', Shivakumar said.

Bengaluru / Bagalkot: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has asserted that the chief minister’s selection will be decided by the Congress high command and not based on the support one enjoys of legislators, essentially setting the terms for his plausible succession to power.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah retorted that the support of MLAs was “crucial” for the top job.

“No decision happens on numbers. Always, it’s the party high command that decides who should be where and till when. I know Congress. It doesn’t work (based on the support of MLAs),” Shivakumar said in an interview to a Kannada news channel. “The CM and I have said that we’d follow whatever the party decides. There are things I can’t discuss in the media,” he added.

Shivakumar’s loaded statement, which he made during an interview to a Kannada news channel, came amid speculation that he will replace Siddaramaiah as the chief minister after the Congress government completes two and a half years next month as per a power-sharing agreement.

It is widely believed that Siddaramaiah still enjoys the support of a large number of Congress MLAs. That is why some of his loyalists have said in the past that the party high command would have to go by the opinion of MLAs before deciding on changing the chief minister.

“Nobody can become the CM without MLAs’ backing,” Siddaramaiah said. “Only with the support of a majority of MLAs can one become the CM. Yes, the high command’s blessings are also important,” he said.

Shivakumar’s statement also points to his confidence that the party high command would back him.

Explaining the process Congress has followed over the years, Home Minister G Parameshwara underlined that MLAs’ opinions are necessary. “Once the party is elected to power, the opinion of MLAs is sought to pick the CM. The high command sends observers who take MLAs’ opinions. The person who has the support of a majority of MLAs is made the CM. That’s how Siddaramaiah became CM twice. That’s the tradition,” he said.

“Even now, tradition calls for MLAs’ opinions to be sought,” Parameshwara said. “But if the high command decides that MLAs’ opinions aren’t needed...well, that’s why they’re called the high command. We’ll support whoever the high command chooses,” he said.