Pramod Madhwaraj formally joins BJP

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar on Wednesday, May 17, as the party closed in on naming the next Karnataka Chief Minister after the election win over the weekend.

Siddaramaiah's supporters were seen bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets after his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, but the suspense over the Karnataka Chief Minister's post after the Congress's emphatic victory in the assembly elections endured for the fourth day. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said a decision could take 48 hours more and another 24 for announcing the cabinet.

According to sources, the Congress is closing in on naming Siddaramaiah, 75, for the role because he has the support of most MLAs and the task now is to bring Mr Shivakumar, 61, on board.

Meanwhile, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke to Shivakumar and urged him to take up the post of Deputy Chief Minister. However, sources said, he politely declined the offer following which she asked him to continue as Congress Karnataka President. Sources said she told Shivakumar that party values his contributions. 

In his meeting with Mr Gandhi, Mr Shivakumar indicated that he would not back down in the standoff with Siddaramaiah, sources said. He later met Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

Siddaramaiah has been in Delhi since Monday, where he met with senior Congress leaders amid speculation that he is the frontrunner in the race for the top post. Asked when there would be an announcement, he said, "Let's wait and see. I don't know".

Mr Shivakumar has earlier stressed that does not envisage a rebellion even if he is deprived of the job. "If the party wants, they can give me the responsibility... Ours is a united house. I don't want to divide anyone here. Whether they like me or not, I am a responsible man. I will not backstab, and I will not blackmail," he said.

The party's leadership has been briefed on the views of the newly elected MLAs by the team of observers sent to the state. Their decision is certain to affect the party's prospects in the next year's general election.

While Siddaramaiah is seen to be a leader with mass appeal and completed a full term in 2018, Mr Shivakumar is known for his strong organisational capabilities, and is considered resourceful and Congress' troubleshooter during tough times. Settling for either of the two contenders may lead to alienating the other, as well as their support base - within the party and out.

In DK Shivakumar's case, it could mean a large section of the politically crucial Vokkaligas. In the case of Mr Siddaramaiah, it could mean a chunk of MLAs backing him, and the AHINDA platform -- an old social combination of minorities, Other Backward Classes, and Dalits, which had voted en masse for the Congress.

The politically crucial Lingayat community, meanwhile, has staked claim to the Chief Minister's post. In a letter addressed to Mr Kharge, the Lingayat organisation All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha pointed out that 34 of the 46 Lingayat leaders fielded by the Congress have won.

Political commentators had seen the quagmire approaching months before the assembly election held last week, which saw the Congress win a clear majority, finishing with 135 seats in the 224-member assembly.

Riyadh, May 23: Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni have arrived at the International Space Station, Al Ekhbariya reported on Monday.

Barnawi, a scientist who became the first Saudi woman to go into space, and Al-Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, traveled on the SpaceX Dragon capsule with astronaut Peggy Whitson and business pioneer and pilot John Shoffner.

They were welcomed by the seven astronauts already on board (three Russians, three Americans, and an Emirati).

“We are now living a dream that we did not expect to become a reality. This trip represents Saudis and the entire Arab world. It is also an opportunity to discover space,” Barnawi said on arrival at the station.

Al-Qarni, meanwhile, said the pair will carry out “scientific experiments that will benefit humanity” during their stay in space.

They aim to conduct 20 research projects. Among them are 14 projects developed by Saudi scientists, covering various areas such as human physiology, cell biology, and technology development.

“It was a lovely ride,” said mission commander Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who has made the voyage three times in the past, adding: “It was the softest docking I've ever felt.”

The Dragon spacecraft launched atop a SpaceX rocket on Sunday, kicking off the private Ax-2 mission.

The mission is the second fully private mission to visit the ISS following a first in April 2022.

Bengaluru, May 16: The Congress's cautious approach to resolving the 'DK Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah' conundrum in Karnataka has triggered a side-effect -- new claims from different caste groups for the chief minister post. 

The All India Veershaiva Mahasabha, which represents the influential Lingayat community, has bid for the top post, citing that 34 of the newly elected Congress MLAs are Lingayats. The swing of the Lingayat vote, once a key support base of the BJP, has been identified as a key factor in the Congress win this time.

Another claim has come in from the Dalit community. Supporters of veteran Congress leader G Parameshwara held a demonstration, demanding that the Dalit leader be chosen for the Chief Minister post. At the gathering in Tumkur, placards reading "a Dalit should be CM" were waved.

In a letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha has said that the Congress had fielded 46 candidates from the community and 34 of them won.

The organisation has key Lingayat leaders among its members. Its president is 91-year-old Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, Karnataka's oldest MLA who won from Davangere South this time.  

"Further more, we wish to bring to your kind notice that our community has played a major role in electing other smaller communities in other 50 constituencies. This shows that the traditional voters of the BJP has shifted its loyalty to Congress party, thereby supporting the Congress party to win 134 constituencies in the state," the letter adds.

The community, which accounts for 17 per cent of Karnataka's population, can potentially swing outcomes in nearly 100 seats. It is the community's electoral significance that saw all parties vie for its support and promote Lingayat leaders in the run-up to the polls.

The organisation has further suggested that it is important that the Congress retains the support of the community for the general election due next year.

"Considering the above facts, we now urge the Congress party to give a chance/consider (a) Veerashaiva Lingayat community leader for the post of Chief Minister of Karnataka state," the letter states.

The organisation has also requested the Congress chief to ensure a number of cabinet berths for the community "which is proportionate to the number of MLAs of our community".

The demand for the Chief Minister post, however, seems more like a pressure building tactic as the two tallest Congress leaders in Karnataka are in running for the job and no third name has been come up in discussions so far.

Once a key support base of the BJP, the Lingayats backed the Congress this time, results in the seats dominated by the community have indicated.

Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who switched from the BJP to the Congress days before polls, said that the Lingayats support the Congress this time.

A key factor behind the Lingayat swing could be the removal of BS Yediyurappa, BJP veteran and tallest Lingayat leader in Karnataka, as chief minister over corruption charges. While the BJP replaced him with Basavaraj Bommai, another Lingayat leader, the results indicate it did not help the party's poll prospects. Even the last minute move to scrap 4% reservation to Muslims and its reallocation among Lingayats and Vokkaliga did not not work in the BJP's favour. 

The seeds of Congress' current dilemma over the choice of a chief minister were, in fact, sown during their poll campaign. To take on the BJP's formidable election machinery, the party avoided projecting a single leader as the face of its campaign. Instead, it projected the trio of Mr Shivakumar, Mr Siddaramaiah and its national chief Mr Kharge as leading its Karnataka push.

While Mr Shivakumar belongs to the influential Vokkaliga community, which dominates southern Karnataka, Mr Siddaramaiah is a Kuruba, a backward caste group that has sizeable presence in central and northern Karnataka. With the Dalit roots of its national president Kharge, Congress got a panel of leaders that appealed, in total, to a huge chunk of Karnataka's population.

While this hugely benefited the Congress campaign and paved the way for its victory, the competing claims for the top job are now proving to be a hurdle in its decision-making.