D K Shivakumar Chosen as Karnataka Congress Leader, Poised to Become Chief Minister

D K Shivakumar has been appointed as the leader of the Congress legislature party in Karnataka, setting him up to become the next chief minister. His nomination was proposed by the outgoing chief minister, Siddaramaiah, at a meeting of Congress leaders in Vidhan Soudha.

The meeting was supervised by the AICC general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala. Amidst discussions, the leaders took a recess which saw Siddaramaiah, Venugopal, and Surjewala conferring separately. Shivakumar, who previously held the position of Deputy Chief Minister in Siddaramaiah's cabinet, will be sworn in as chief minister on June 3 at Glass House, Lok Bhavan.

Siddaramaiah resigned on Thursday, with his resignation accepted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, who also dissolved the Council of Ministers the following day.

(With inputs from agencies.)