The modalities of forming a Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government in Karnataka are expected to be finalised on Monday when JD(S) State president and chief minister-designate H.D. Kumaraswamy holds consultations with the Congress high command in Delhi.
Mr. Kumaraswamy, who is to take oath as chief minister on May 23, told reporters in Bengaluru on Sunday that during his visit to the capital, he would invite Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to the swearing-in ceremony to be held on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha, and hold consultations on the coalition government. He would also discuss the composition of the government and sharing of Cabinet berths with the Congress high command, he said.
Two deputy CMs?
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara, who is one of the contenders for the deputy chief minister’s post, said there was a proposal to have two deputy chief ministers from the Congress. The high command would take a call on this, he added.
However, it is not clear if any Congress member will also be sworn in along with Mr. Kumaraswamy, as AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal said a decision was yet to be taken.
Four CMs to attend
Meanwhile, leaders of 11 Opposition parties and Chief Ministers of four States are expected to attend Mr. Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in, in an indication of the shape of things to come in the 2019 general election, where the ruling BJP may face a united opposition.
The shifting of the swearing-in ceremony from Monday to Wednesday is being seen as a move to facilitate the attendance of various parties especially in the wake of the coalition’s win being projected as a victory of a united Opposition.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury who is said to have played a significant role in stitching together the alliance between the Congress and the JD(S) could not have come on Monday, as he has called a Politburo meeting of his party, the first after he won a second term as general secretary. Also, Monday is the 27th death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
So it would have been tough for Ms Gandhi and Mr. Gandhi to participate.
“We all wanted that the BJP should not succeed in hijacking the mandate like they have done in the past. The fact is that the BJP failed to garner people’s support despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah’s presence. No other political meaning should be read into it, at least for now,” Mr. Yechury told The Hindu .
The list of invitees includes the Chief Ministers of Kerala, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) and K. Chandrashekar Rao (TRS).
Big list of invitees
The others in the list include Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy and its senior leader D. Raja, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejaswi Yadav and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah.
The invitees’ list could get longer as phones are being worked to reach out to other regional players like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Biju Janata Dal. Invitation to Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal is also on the cards. DMK MP M.K. Kanimozhi said her party had received an invitation and would decide by Monday.
The JD(S) is also contemplating inviting Shiv Sena, which had publicly criticised the BJP.
