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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be submitting his resignation in the afternoon on Thursday, May 28. The Chief Minister announced this to his council of ministers at the breakfast meeting held on Thursday morning. Siddaramaiah’s announcement comes as a rather subdued denouement to a leadership saga that saw ample churn in the last year.
He also confirmed DK Shivakumar as the next Chief Minister, according to ministers present at the meeting.
Siddaramaiah informed his ministers that he would be resigning in the afternoon. He will be heading to Lok Bhavan at 2.30 pm. Minister Santhosh Lad broke down in tears while speaking to the media and confirming that Siddaramiah would be stepping down.
"The CM was calm, he spoke emotionally but did not break down. He thanked all of us for our work. He spoke about some of the ministers individually. He also officially announced that DK Shivakumar will take over," Minister Ramalinga Reddy told TNM.
In the absence of the Governor, Siddaramaiah will hand over his resignation letter to his secretary. Once that is accepted, a Congress Legilature Party meeting will be convened and a resolution will be passed, and this will be given to the Governor. The swearing in for the next CM will take place after this.
Speaking to the media after the breakfast meeting, Minister HK Patil said that Siddaramaiah explained to the ministers about the talks held with the Congress high command and that he had accepted the suggestion by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge that he resign. “So he will resign at 3 pm,” Patil said.
Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said that Shivakumar’s name for CM would be announced officially by the Congress high command after Siddaramaiah’s resignation.
"He was graceful and spoke for a while. He said that the high command had asked him to resign and that DK Shivakumar would be taking over. He will continue as an MLA, and did not mention anything about a transition to Rajya Sabha. He also said that the goal should be to defeat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2028 and he would be there or that," Dinesh Gundu Rao said.
Earlier in the day, the two leaders embraced with much bonhomie, and Shivakumar even touched Siddaramaiah’s feet, seeking his blessings. The outward warmth between the two leaders set the stage for the breakfast meeting, a characteristic that followed the same script as in their earlier two breakfast meetings.
Siddaramaiah is expected to hand over his letter of resignation to Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot’s secretary at Lok Bhavan, as the Governor has made an emergency visit to Indore.