Ex-CM Siddaramaiah elected as Congress party leader in Hyderabad

Bengaluru, May 19: Ahead of the crucial floor test on Saturday in the Karnataka Assembly, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was on Friday elected as the Congress legislature party leader in Hyderabad, the party said.

"The party unanimously passed a resolution to elect Siddaramaiah as the Congress legislature party leader," the statement said.

The Congress legislature party meeting was held at a star hotel in the Deccan city where its newly-elected lawmakers stayed after reaching earlier in the day from Bengaluru in chartered buses.

The Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) had shifted their newly-elected legislators to Hyderabad on late Thursday to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from poaching them for defection.

The legislators will be returning to Bengaluru before 11 a.m on Saturday, when the new assembly will be convened to enable them to take oath.