After being unanimously elected the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Saturday (May 30, 2026), Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar will take oath as the Chief Minister at Lok Bhavan on Wednesday (June 3). The event is expected to be attended by the central leadership of the party.

With Cabinet formation still under discussion, speculation continues over whether a full Cabinet will be sworn in and whether there will be deputy Chief Ministers.

Governor’s invitation

Governor Thaawarchand Ghehlot, in a communique to Mr. Shivakumar, has invited him to take the oath at 4.05 p.m. on Wednesday. It is expected to be a simple event at the Glass House on the Governor’s residential premises.

The Governor’s invitation came after a delegation of Congress leaders, including Mr. Shivakumar and caretaker Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, met the Governor to hand over the CLP resolution on the election of a new leader. The letter said 135 Congress legislators, two associate members and one Raitha Sangha member had unanimously elected Mr. Shivakumar. Earlier in the day, Mr. Shivakumar also met the Governor informally to check his availability for the dates chosen for swearing in.

“The Congress high command proposed the name of Mr. Shivakumar for the post of CLP, and he was unanimously elected. The power transition took place under the guidance of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and leader Sonia Gandhi,” Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal told reporters. “With the support of Mr. Siddaramaiah and under the leadership of Mr. Shivakumar, the Congress will return to power in 2028,” he said.

‘One family’

Addressing speculations surrounding the power transition, Mr. Venugopal said, “Several people had predicted that the Congress would be in trouble during the power transition. Everyone speculated about the move of Mr. Siddaramaiah. However, by his decision, he has shown that he only has the Congress party in his heart. It proves that Congress is one family.”

Earlier, at the CLP meeting held at the Vidhan Soudha in the presence of Mr. Venugopal and Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, legislators unanimously elected the new leader by raising hands after Mr. Shivakumar’s name was proposed by the outgoing Chief Minister and seconded by senior leader G. Parameshwara. The election of the new CLP leader was announced by Mr. Venugopal.

Role of Siddaramaiah

Soon after the meeting began, Mr. Siddaramaiah—who has remained the CLP leader since 2008, serving as Leader of Opposition twice and as Chief Minister for one full term besides his current tenure since May 2023— said that the selection of the new CLP leader had been left to the discretion of the high command. The two Central leaders, along with Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar, briefly met separately before informing Rahul Gandhi about the decision, following which the CLP elected Mr. Shivakumar, sources said.

“The process was smooth. The contribution of Mr. Siddaramaiah was appreciated, and the CLP passed a resolution in this regard. The outgoing Chief Minister also informed the legislators of the contribution of his government and the challenges that it faced, besides the financial position of the government,” a senior Congress leader said.

A leader who attended the meeting said the party high command, which had earlier encouraged Mr. Siddaramaiah to enter national politics when he was asked to step down to pave the way for power transition, again broached the topic. Mr. Venugopal is learnt to have spoken about using the veteran leader’s services at both the State and the national level in the future.

Will D.K. Shivakumar's Cabinet strike the right balance?

After months of speculations and uncertainty, political shadow boxing, multiple trips to Delhi and a series of breakfast and dinner diplomacy meetings, Siddaramaiah finally stepped down from the position of Chief Minister of Karnataka on May 28, 2026, passing on the mantel to his deputy and chief ministerial aspirant, D.K. Shivakumar. What does the change of guard mean for the Congress in Karnataka? What are the key challenges staring at CM to-be D.K. Shivakumar? And what next for Siddaramaiah? | Video Credit: The Hindu