New Delhi:
K Siddaramaiah, who was all set to fly to Delhi after the Congress' spectacular victory in the Karnataka elections yesterday, has cancelled his trip.
He will now wait for senior national leaders AK Antony, Jitender Singh and Madhusudan Mistry to arrive in Bangalore and consult all 120 Congress MLAs on who should be the next Chief Minister.
Mr Siddaramaiah said yesterday that he is a "strong contender." He is among those who scripted the Congress' successful campaign and no doubt fancies his chances even more now that the party's state unit president G Parmeshwara has lost his election from Kortagere.
But as Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury reminded everyone yesterday, the party has a "galaxy of leaders" to choose from. (
Read) Of those, the one who is expected to pose the most serious challenge to Mr Siddaramaiah is Union minister Mallikarjuna Kharge.
It is an even battle. Mr Siddaramaiah, a five-time MLA from Varuna in south Karnataka, is a backward caste leader from the Kuruba community. He was virtually the face of the Congress in these elections. But he is an import from the Janata Dal (Secular), was an HD Deve Gowda protege and has been a Congressman for only about six years.
Mr Kharge, on the other hand, has been a Congressman all his political life and has registered a formidable record - he has won nine straight times from the Gulbarg region in north Karnataka an is the only leader to have never lost in that area. The Dalit leader has always been in the running, but has been overlooked each time.
This time, as it became clear that the Congress would form the next government Mr Kharge sent a gentle reminder saying, "If the high command thinks I am capable of chief ministership, it is their choice... am willing to be the Chief Minister."
Mr Antony and Ms Soni are expected to visit Bangalore tomorrow.