The Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, passed a unanimous resolution authorising All India Congress Committee (AICC) President M Mallikarjun Kharge to pick its leader, who will be the next chief minister of Karnataka.
The CLP meeting was attended by AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal and three central observers.
Before the meeting, Venugopal and the central observers held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar -- the two front-runners for the chief minister's post.
"The Congress Legislature Party unanimously resolves that the AICC President is hereby authorised to appoint the new Leader of the Congress Legislature Party," according to a one-line resolution passed at the CLP meeting. Siddaramaiah moved the resolution.
With the ball now in Kharge's court, lobbying for the top post is set to shift to Delhi with both the contenders expected to arrive in the national capital on Monday to meet Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the AICC chief.
