Congress in confusion as Siddaramaiah vs Shivakumar race for CM heats up

The real battle for the Congress begins now as it faces the tough task of deciding its chief minister. So far, there are two top contenders  former chief minister and old warhorse Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief and trouble-shooter DK Shivakumar. Earlier, Siddaramaiah said if Congress voted to power, it would be his last election. The veteran political leader, has got a landslide victory in the Varuna constituency, earlier said, "I am retiring from politics. I desire to represent my native constituency and place and retire". Siddaramaiah served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for five years from 2013 to 2018. In the previous BJP government, he was the leader of the Opposition. On Saturday, the 75-year-old leader got 1,19,430 votes against 73,424 polled by his BJP rival and influential Lingayat leader V Somanna.

Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are the Congress's top leaders in Karnataka, one a former chief minister and the other, the state Congress chief. Neither has been coy about their chief ministerial ambition.Shivakumar, 61, broke down as he spoke about delivering on a promise to the Gandhis. He also said he had not slept for three years, ever since he made the promise."I assured Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge that I will deliver Karnataka. I can't forget Sonia Gandhi coming to meet me in jail," said the emotional Congress leader.On who would be Chief Minister, he said: "The Congress office is our temple. We will decide our next step at the Congress office."Mr Shivakumar has been the congress's troubleshooter for years.One of the wealthiest politicians in Karnataka, "DKS" rose to prominence in 2019 when he tried - but failed - to salvage the Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government, which collapsed after the mass defection of MLAs from both parties. Unlike Siddaramaiah, Mr Shivakumar has always been a Congressman, and has not lost a single election since his first electoral victory in 1989.Mr Shivakumar is facing several corruption cases and even spent time in Delhi's Tihar Jail before being granted bail. There was much speculation about the timing of the investigation and raids against the Congress leader in 2017, when he was "guarding" Congress MLAs from Gujarat ahead of Rajya Sabha polls in the state.