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Bengaluru, May 24: Congress MLA U T Khader was unanimously elected as the new Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday.

With the election, Khader, 53, became the first Muslim leader to serve as Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly. He is also the youngest Speaker of the Karnataka State Assembly.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah proposed Khader's name for the post of Speaker and it was seconded by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

As there was no other contender for the post, Protem Speaker R V Deshpande put the proposal made by the Chief Minister to vote, and it was unanimously adopted by the House.

As per convention, the ruling party's nominee is generally elected unanimously as the Speaker.

Khader had served as Deputy Leader of Opposition in the previous Assembly and had also served as a minister in the past.

Khader holds a law degree and served as the Health, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister in the Siddaramaiah-led government during 2013-18 and held the portfolios of Housing and Urban Development in the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2018-19.

Bengaluru, May 18: Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who has settled for the number two post in Karnataka after days of hard negotiations, today said he had "accepted the high command's decision like we have to accept a judge's verdict in court".

The Congress today announced that Siddaramaiah will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and Mr Shivakumar his "only deputy", ending five days of suspense. They will be sworn in on Saturday.

Mr Shivakumar, 61, fought hard and refused to back down on his demand for the chief minister's post until Sonia Gandhi stepped in. He finally agreed to "sacrifice in the interest of the party".

"Once we agree that we will leave it to the high command, we have to accept the verdict. A lot of us will be arguing in court. Ultimately, what the judge said has to be accepted. All 135 MLAs, all of us joined and said we will leave it to the high command," Mr Shivakumar said in a television interview.

"We assured the people of Karnataka. Personal interest comes later, party interest is first. That is what my commitment is," he said.

"Ultimately, for various reasons, suppose if we had not won, what would have been the position? Now we have won, we have to get the fruit out of it. It is not me alone, lakhs and lakhs of workers have done their best. We will have to look at their end also," he added.

Asked whether it was Sonia Gandhi's persuasion that finally settled the conflict, Mr Shivakumar said: "I don't want to bring Mrs Gandhi or the Gandhi family into this. I just met Rahul (Gandhi) ji. I met Mallikarjun Kharge. I met AICC (All India Congress Committee) office bearers, that's it."

On power-sharing with Siddaramaiah after their tussle for power, Mr Shivakumar said: "The work has to start. It needs a week or something to start. Let it start...let us see the success story."

He dismissed questions about how the Congress would deliver on its five guarantees promise, believed to cost about ₹ 51,000 crore.

"You leave it to us, we have a dedicated team for it. We have just worked out all the economics," he said, not elaborating. 

The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP for criticising it over the delay in deciding the chief minister of Karnataka, and cited examples when the BJP declared its chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Assam several days after winning the polls.

"Just to refresh memories of PM's drum-beaters especially. 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha election results out on March 11th. Yogi appointed CM 8 days later on March 19th. 2021 Assam Vidhan Sabha election results out on May 3rd. Himanta Biswa Sarma became CM 7 days later on May 10th," AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

"There are many more such examples," he also said.

Several BJP leaders are criticising the Congress for the delay in deciding on the chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka amid hectic lobbying for the top post. 

The results in Karnataka were declared on May 13 but the party has not finalised its chief ministerial face yet and the process of consultations is on.

Karnataka's two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday as the party held hectic consultations to decide on who would lead the government in the southern state.

BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya said a sorry state of affairs prevails in Congress where president Mallikarjun Kharge sees himself more as a "postman".

"Want to watch circus? Watch the Congress select their CM in Karnataka," he said on Twitter.

Referring to the lobbying by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the post of chief minister, he said, "The BJP also holds discussions and deliberations to elect its CMs and has often ensured smooth transition of power, even between CMs. Despite elaborate consultations, you will never find BJP aspirants falling over each other, rallying supporters and issuing veiled threats to the Party through the media".

"On the contrary, last evening, Lutyens journalists, who D K Shivkumar hosted at the Claridges, almost appointed Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM. Sorry state of affairs in the Congress, where President Kharge sees himself more as a postman, let alone being a decision maker or even part of the decision making team… He keeps referring to some High Command," he added.