Likening the post of Chief Minister to a bed of thorns, CM-designate Siddharamaiah this morning said that it requires lot of dedication, perseverance and patience to fulfil the aspirations of the people.

Speaking to media persons, he said that he would strive to provide a corruption-free, transparent and people-friendly government during his regime.

Saying that the State was facing severe drinking water and power problems, he declared that he would do all that is required to confront the problems expressing hopes that Rain God would bless the State with sufficient rains. He also added that agricultural sector would be given top priority during his rule, as, he being a farmer himself understood the problems of the farmer better.

As expected, 64 year-old Varuna MLA Siddharamaiah was yesterday elected unanimously as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka following Party’s thumping victory in the just-concluded elections to the 224-member 14th Karnataka Legislative Assembly results of which were announced on May 8.

Following Governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj inviting Siddharamaiah to form the next Government, the advocate-turned politician is likely to be sworn-in on Monday at a function organised at the sprawling Kanteerava Stadium in which only Siddharamaiah will take oath of office and secrecy with the rest of the Cabinet colleagues likely to be sworn-in after a week.

Both Siddharamaiah and KPCC President Dr. G. Parameshwar are likely to leave for Delhi on Monday itself after the swearing-in ceremony to finalise the list of Ministers which may last for a week.

It is interesting to note that a person from Mysore district is occupying the pivotal post after 30 years.

It is reported that the election of Siddharamaiah as Congress Legislature Party leader and Chief Minister became a non-issue after the party High Command worked out a deal with Siddharamaiah’s rival and senior party leader Mallikarjuna Kharge, who was reportedly offered the prestigious Railway Ministry vacated by Pawan Kumar Bansal, who reportedly tendered his resignation yesterday in New Delhi.

Earlier AICC observers led by Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony held meetings with newly-elected MLAs and passed the usual resolution to leave the selection of the new CM to the party High Command. Two more resolutions thanking the people of Karnataka and the party workers for the party’s success during the elections were also passed at the meeting following which the observers contacted Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi before officially announcing the name of Siddharamaiah.

Making election process look more democratic, party observers conducted a secret ballot asking MLAs to express their choice of candidate for the top post. The MLAs said that they were given a slip with a serial number to write the name of their choice for the post and drop it in a box. However, observers did not disclose the number of votes that Siddharamaiah and Kharge secured.

It is interesting to note that both Siddharamaiah and Kharge’s camps claimed to have secured 80 votes each while even KPCC President Parameshwar was not shown the number of votes secured by rival groups. It is now learnt that out of 121 MLAs, Siddharamaiah got the support of 75 MLAs.

Rahul may attend

Meanwhile, it is reliably learnt that Rahul Gandhi is likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Kanteerava Stadium, the venue for the swearing in ceremony, is being dressed up for the occasion by the officials of Youth and Sports Department to accommodate about 50,000 to one lakh people who are expected to assemble at the coronation ceremony.

Courtesy : Star Of Mysore