Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar, who was announced as the next Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka by the party, on Thursday said that former party chief Rahul Gandhi called him and asked to work together. He made the remarks after his name was announced as the only Dy CM of Karnataka by party leadership. The Congress announced Siddaramaiah as the new chief minister of the southern state. The swearing-in ceremony will take place on May 20 in Bengaluru.

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Shivakumar, who had been camping in the national capital since Tuesday, had met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and several other leaders. The decision of party was announced after a series of meeting between the senior leaders. Even on Thursday, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah had met party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal over breakfast where Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala was also present. All the four leaders then drove in a car together to Kharge`s residence after which Venugopal made the announcement at the party headquarters.


Thereafter Shivakumar went to Youth Congress office and met Srinivas BV and congratulated him for working in Karnataka Assembly elections. Speaking to media at IYC headquarters, Shivakumar said, "Everything is well and will be well and it is going to be well." When asked if he is happy with the decision, the Kanakpura MLA said, "We have made one line resolution and submitted it to party leadership. Ultimately Rahul Gandhi called me and said, we all have to work together." He said, "Mallikarjun Kharge called us and we have accepted whatever formula has been generated." Congress faced an uphill task to decide on the next Karnataka chief minister as both senior leaders Siddaramamaih and Shivakumar were vying for the top post. The Congress won 135 out of 224 seats in the state assembly polls where the ruling BJP was reduced to 66 while the JD-S could grab win only 19 seats in the southern state.