Chief minister-designate of the newly formed Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy will take oath on May Wednesday 23 and has said that he would prove his majority in the assembly within 24 hours of taking oath.
A number of leaders from other parties are expected to attend his swearing in ceremony in a show of solidarity – an indication of moves towards a joint front against the BJP.
On Monday, he is scheduled to meet Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi to discuss the modalities of government formation.
Kumaraswamy had earlier intended to take the oath of office on Monday (May 21) but deferred it as this happens to be the death anniversary of former PM and Rahul’s father Rajiv Gandhi.
According to media reports, the JD(S) president told reporters in Bengaluru that no discussion has taken place so far on the allocation of ministerial berths. He also termed reports on the power-sharing formula of 30 months each between the two parties as ‘bogus’. There were reports about both parties heading the government for 30 months each on rotation, similar to the 20:20 month power sharing agreement in 2006 between the JD(S) and BJP.
“I will be going to Delhi tomorrow to invite Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi to attend the oath-taking ceremony on Wednesday. During the meetings, we will discuss some of the issues regarding the new government, and, based on the outcome of these talks, we will decide the constitution of the cabinet of ministers and how many will take oath,” he said.
“My MLAs have given me the complete responsibility of shaping our participation in the coalition. The issue of formation of the cabinet of ministers has not been discussed formally with the Congress leaders. We have only had some informal talks at a personal level. The Congress has its own procedures in these matters,” said Kumaraswamy, who held meetings with his father HD Deve Gowda and his 36 MLAs and also visited a temple in Srirangam in Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
“I will prove my majority within 24 hours of being sworn in as the chief minister,” he said. Kumaraswamy said that coalition issues like allocation of portfolios, choice of ministers, creation of a coordination committee were yet to be discussed. Dismissing reports about his party working out a power sharing formula with the Congress of heading the government for 30 months each, he said that “no such talks have taken place”.
Kumaraswamy dismissed reports that the JD(S) MLAs were being kept in ‘safe custody’ till the trust vote. “We are not holding the MLAs back. We have left it to their discretion to remain in Bengaluru or go back to their constituencies. They are tired from the rigours of the elections and are getting some rest, that is all,” he said.
Most of the Congress MLAs are at the Hilton Hotel. State Congress president G Parameshwara, who is tipped to be the deputy chief minister, said the party high command would take a decision on number of Congress ministers and the position of deputy chief minister.
Sources in the JD(S) said the party would recommend the candidature of Parameswhara, a Dalit leader, for the post of deputy chief minister.
Parameshwara, however, said there was a proposal to appoint two deputy chief ministers from the Congress. This is seen as an effort to balance some of the caste equations in the state, especially to prevent the alienation of the dominant Lingayat community. The current proposal is to have a Dalit deputy chief minister and a Lingayat deputy chief minister.
The JD(S) has five Lingayat MLAs while the Congress has as many as 19. Lingayat leaders in the Congress are pushing for appointment of a deputy chief minister from the community.
The Congress and JD(S) fear polarisation of the Lingayats towards the BJP following the ouster of Lingayat leader BS Yeddyurappa as the chief minister on Saturday. The Congress also attempted to split the Lingayat votes ahead of the polls by recommending the status of a minority religion for the community.
Both Kumaraswamy and Parameshwara on Sunday denied the possibility of the new coalition partners jointly fighting the elections for two pending seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly — Raja Rajeshwarinagar and Jayanagar.
A number of leaders of other parties are expected to attend Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony. Media report said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana’s K Chandrashekar Rao are also expected to attend the swearing-in.
Former UP Chief Minister and president of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav is also amongst the invitees and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, who had tied-up with Kumaraswamy’s JD(S) will be present for the swearing-in.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too has been invited for the oath taking ceremony and DMK working president MK Stalin too is expected to attend Kumaraswamy’s oath taking ceremony.
Reports said RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, and CPI’s D. Raja have already confirmed to the JD(S) that they would attend the ceremony, while CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury’s plans could not be ascertained since he had called a meeting of the politburo on Monday — the first since the 22nd Party Congress in Hyderabad last month. Since the news of oath taking postponement to Wednesday came later, it could not be confirmed if Yechury will be attending or not, reported The Telegraph.
