Discussions regarding sharing of cabinet seats in the Karnataka government, demand for a Lingayat deputy chief minister and other modalities of alliance have taken centre stage ahead of Kumaraswamy’s visit to New Delhi to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
Clarifying that no discussion has taken place so far on the allocation of ministerial berths, Kumaraswamy termed reports on the power-sharing formula of 30 months each between the parties as “bogus”.
In the meanwhile, the Lingayat MLAs have stepped up pressure on both alliance partners to appoint a lawmaker from their community as the deputy chief minister. There are 16 Lingayat MLAs in the Congress, the highest from any community among the party’s 78 MLAs. The JD(S) has four Lingayat MLAs.
“I’m visiting New Delhi tomorrow … I will meet Congress President Rahul Gandhi and the party’s senior leader Sonia Gandhi,” he told reporters on Sunday. Based on the outcome of discussions with them, a decision will be taken on the number of Congress and JD(S) MLAs who will become ministers, Kumaraswamy added.
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Kumaraswamy, who was to be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka on May 21, will now take oath on May 23, in deference of Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary, which falls on Monday.
BS Yeddyurappa stepped down as the chief minister of Karnataka without facing the floor test in the state assembly as the BJP fell short of numbers, following which Kumaraswamy met governor Vajubhai Vala, and was invited to form the government.
The May 12 Karnataka assembly polls have a fractured mandate. BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, but fell short of majority, while Congress and JD(S) combine had 116 seats .
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He also asserted that within 24 hours of taking oath, he would prove the majority on the floor of the House. “Mostly on Wednesday there will be oath-taking ceremony after that on Thursday we will complete the process of speaker’s election and trust vote,” he added.