Delivered 135 Seats At Feet Of Sonia Gandhi; CM Post Not Ancestral Property To Be Shared: D K Shivakumar

Amid the ongoing battle for the Chief Minister post in Karnataka, State Congress president D K Shivakumar has said that the speculations about him agreeing to let Siddaramaiah be the CM are "rubbish".

The Karnataka Congress chief also said that the Chief Minister's post is not an ancestral property to be shared.

He said that no power-sharing formula has been devised by the Party high command yet and that he will leave for Delhi today (16 May).

In an interview with the Times of India, when asked about speculations that Siddaramaiah enjoys the support of majority Congress MLAs, Shivakumar said, "Who said numbers are with him? There are no numbers. There is only one number, which is 135 [the number of Congress MLAs]".

On Siddaramaiah supporters claiming he had better image and thus suited to be CM, the Karnataka Congress chief said, "Let them dream. Who am I to stop them from dreaming? I also have a dream to provide good governance and build the image of the party, especially in rural areas, ahead of Lok Sabha elections".

When asked if he would agree to share the CM post with Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar said that it was not property to be "shared like siblings share ancestral property".

"It is a question of forming the government. There can’t be sharing," he added.

Shivakumar said that he took charge when the party was in distress after Dinesh Gundu Rao gave up the president post.

"I succeeded in getting the party to this stage and have delivered 135 seats at the feet of Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. I do not expect any rewards," he said.

On the question of agreeing to be Siddaramaiah's deputy CM, he said that nothing has been "discussed or finalised as yet".

"I do not have any demands," he added.