Siddaramaiah will take oath as chief minister of Karnataka on Saturday with the Congress leadership persuading D.K. Shivakumar to accept the post of deputy chief minister while he will continue to head the party’s state unit.

The Congress has denied suggestions of a rotational formula amid speculation about Shivakumar taking over from Siddaramaiah midway through the five-year term. The Congress leadership doesn’t want to undermine Siddaramaiah’s position by announcing the rotation formula at this stage. But the party announced that it had eased the one-man-one-post norm for Shivakumar to allow him to remain the state unit chief till the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

The agreement was reached late on Wednesday night after a series of meetings that party president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary in charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal, and Karnataka-in-charge Randeep Surjewala held with both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met Kharge on Thursday morning, driving to his residence together with Surjewala to give their consent to the formula. Late in the evening, Shivakumar accompanied Siddaramaiah to meet governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot and stake claim to form the government.

Venugopal, along with Surjewala, had announced the decision at a media conference around noon, saying the party was determined to deliver good governance. Shivkumar, contrary to the perception built by a section of the media, posted a tweet along with a photograph of Kharge and Siddaramaiah after the announcement, saying: “Karnataka’s secure future and our people’s welfare is our top priority, and we are united in guaranteeing that.”

Siddaramaiah, too, posted a similar photograph of the three leaders, saying: “We will always join our hands to protect the interests of Kannadigas. The Congress party will work as a family to provide transparent and corruption-free governance and to implement our guarantees.”

While the choice of Siddaramaiah was obvious to those who understand the party, the support for the former chief minister among the majority of MLAs bolstered his chances. Shivakumar had aspired to the post but Congress insiders always insisted that he was too mature a politician to resort to blackmail in front of Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. The speculation about Shivakumar ultimately relenting after Sonia Gandhi’s intervention is not borne out by accounts emerging from deep within the party.

The central leadership fully acknowledged the decisive role played by Shivakumar in rebuilding the party after losing power around four years ago, and conveyed to him that he would be the face of the party in Karnataka’s future politics.

But they demonstrated the political sagacity of giving the reins to the 75-year-old Siddaramaiah, who commands enormous support among the disadvantaged castes, Dalits and Muslims.

Being a nine-term MLA, and having been a deputy chief minister and a chief minister in his four-decade-long career, Siddaramaiah brings vast experience and administrative acumen to the table. He would have obviously not joined a government under Shivakumar, and the party would have missed his services at the critical juncture of the 2024 parliamentary polls. The existing arrangement, of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar together at the helm, makes a formidable combination in the run-up to 2024.

Siddaramaiah, sacked from the Janata Dal Secular in 2005 after serious differences with former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, is known for his politics of welfare and social justice. This would help him sew up a rainbow coalition of castes. Shivakumar, a great organiser, is a Vokkaliga leader.

Siddaramaiah also enjoys a strong personal bonding with Rahul, who didn’t want the veteran to fade into oblivion without reclaiming the chief minister’s post.

The Congress had to offer the chief minister’s post in 2018 to JDS leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, which didn’t please Siddaramaiah. There was speculation about his role in bringing down that government when MLAs from the Congress and the JDS defected to the BJP.

Shivakumar emerged as a relentless fighter at that time and the party rewarded him with the PCC chief’s post. What also may have gone against him now is the raft of cases the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have filed against him. Shivakumar has rejected all the charges as politically motivated.

Didi invited

The swearing-in ceremony, at an outdoor stadium on May 20, will be attended by Rahul, Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Leaders of all friendly parties, including Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, M.K. Stalin, Sitaram Yechury, D. Raja, Uddhav Thackeray, Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Hemant Soren and Farooq Abdullah are invited.

Mamata “is unlikely to go as she is scheduled to visit Delhi next week... but will surely send a representative”, a Trinamul source said.