Rahul Gandhi meets Kharge, waiting for Karnataka’s next chief minister

New Delhi: Amidst the race for the chief minister’s post of Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met party president Mallikarjun Kharge and reportedly discussed government formation in the southern state.

Gandhi went 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 in the meeting. Kharge held discussions with party leaders from Karnataka and three observers appointed by him to oversee the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Both Siddaramaiah and state Congress president DK Shivakumar are frontrunners for the chief minister’s post and both are lobbying for it. While former chief minister Siddaramaiah is in Delhi, Shivakumar canceled his visit to the national capital on Monday evening citing health issues, triggering speculations that all is not well in the party.

Shivakumar reached the national capital on Tuesday afternoon. After arriving at the Delhi airport, he did not speak to the media and walked away with folded hands, fielding questions from reporters. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will discuss government formation in Karnataka.

In the just-concluded assembly elections, the Congress won an emphatic victory with 135 seats, while the ruling BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.