New Delhi:

With rivals Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar staking out in Delhi for the Congress’s decision on the next Karnataka Chief Minister, Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly discussed possible solutions.

Rahul Gandhi drove to Mr Kharge’s home and held a closed-door meeting with him.

For three days, the Congress leadership has consulted with newly elected Karnataka MLAs and even taken their votes in a secret ballot, the results of which are reportedly with Mr Kharge.

Both former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, 75, and Karnataka Congress chief Shivakumar, 61, want the Chief Minister’s post and neither wants to back down.

The Congress has reportedly discussed two formulas with the two leaders, according to sources.

The first involves Siddaramaiah becoming Chief Minister and Mr Shivakumar agreeing to be his deputy while staying party chief in Karnataka, sources said..

Mr Shivakumar could also get two important portfolios and three ministers of his choice in this formula.

The second formula could involve a rotational arrangement where Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Shivakumar will share power equally.

Both will then be the chief minister for two-and-a-half years each by this template. The sticking point is who will have the first shot.

“The Congress president will take a decision based on the observers’ report. There is no delay, we are following the process,” Congress leader BK Hariprasad told news agency ANI.

Amid reports that Mr Siddaramaiah had taken a lead in the race, Mr Shivakumar indicated that he would not back down without a fight. “We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it…A mother will give everything to her child,” he told reporters.

But Mr Shivakumar also asserted that he would not resort to “backstabbing or blackmail” regardless of the party’s decision.

The Congress won a clear majority in last week’s Karnataka election, scooping up 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. But the celebrations have now segued into a tense standoff between the two rivals who had projected a united front during the campaign.