Rejecting suggestions of a tussle among chief ministerial aspirants in the Congress, senior state party leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said they would fight the May 5 Karnataka Assembly polls under collective leadership without projecting any leader.
"There is nothing wrong if there are some chief ministerial aspirants. But to think that the aspirants would mar the chances of the party has no basis and is only an illusion," Siddaramaiah said.
Siddaramaiah, Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and KPCC chief G Parameshwara are considered to be in the race for chief ministership in the event of Congress coming to power, besides some others considered dark horses.
The 'problem of plenty' in the Congress has often been derided by the ruling BJP, which has repeatedly needled its principal opponent to name its leader. "It has been a tradition in the Congress never to declare its leader," Siddaramaiah, who is the opposition leader in the Assembly, told a meet-the-press programme here.
Siddaramaiah said he was "200 per cent" confident that the Congress would cross the half way mark of 113 seats in the 224-member Assembly and when it comes to selection of chief minister, "the high command's word is final. It is a known fact in the Congress."
