Rahul Gandhi meets Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, discusses govt formation in Karnataka

NEW DELHI: Amid a race for the Karnataka chief minister’s post, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met party president Mallikarjun Kharge and is reported to have held discussions over government formation in the southern state.

Gandhi drove to Kharge’s residence and held a closed-door meeting with the Congress chief. Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Karnataka, was also present at the meeting. Kharge has held discussions with party leaders from Karnataka and the three observers appointed by him to oversee the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Both Siddaramaiah and state Congress president D K Shivakumar are front runners for the chief minister’s post and both are lobbying for it.

While former chief minister Siddaramaiah is in Delhi, Shivakumar cancelled his visit to the national capital on Monday evening citing health issues, fuelling speculations that all is not well in the party.

Shivakumar arrived in the national capital Tuesday afternoon. After arriving at Delhi airport, he did not speak to the media and walked away with folded hands parrying a barrage of questions from reporters.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will hold discussions over government formation in Karnataka. In just-concluded Assembly elections, the Congress scored an emphatic victory with 135 seats while the ruling BJP and the former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.