Birth of another battle: Cabinet berths

Ramakrishna Upadhya

THE pangs of government formation have hit the JD(S)-Congress combine hard in Karnataka, as even 24 hours after receiving an invitation from the Governor, Chief Minister-designate HD Kumaraswamy was unable to go beyond fixing the date of swearing-in.

Raj Bhavan has been informed that Kumarasw-amy will take oath on Wednesday on the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha, with the time of the ceremony to be communicated later. The venue itself was changed twice, as the initial plan was to hold it at the Kanteerava stadium.

Editorial: The aborted floor test

There was hectic activity in both the camps as the Congress and JD(S) legislators held separate meetings and discussed strategies on Cabinet formation. 

The Congress is demanding the posts of Deputy CM and the Speaker and a lion’s share of Cabinet positions, considering that it won 78 seats compared to 37 by the JD(S). While a section of leaders want G Parameshwara, a Dalit, to be made Deputy CM, the Lingayats are demanding that the post be given to their community as they ‘narrowly lost’the chief ministership.

The supporters of ex- CM Siddaramaiah’s son Yatheendra came in two buses from Mysuru to Bengaluru demanding Yatheendra be made a minister. Siddaramaiah, having now become leader of the legislature party, is under pressure from his former colleagues for berths. 

Those who have won more than four terms have put up the demand that they should get priority, but others are arguing that regional and caste balance should be maintained.

In the JD(S), Kumaras-wamy cannot ignore giving an important position to his elder brother and senior legislator HD Revanna as the latter has lost out on the CM post on both occasions.

Kumaraswamy will also have problems in giving adequate representation to various communities on his side as a majority of them belong to the Vokkaliga community.

Kumaraswamy told report-ers on Sunday that nothing has been decided yet either on the Cabinet formation or the posts to be shared with the Congress. He said he will visit Delhi on Monday, meet Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and personally invite

From page 1

them to the swearing-in ceremony, adding, “I will take up the issue of Cabinet formation with them.”

Meanwhile, the JD(S) has decided to turn the coming of a coalition government in Karnataka into a show of Opposition unity across the country. Trinamool Congress’ Mamata Bannerjee, TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu, TRS’ KC Chandrasekhar Rao, BSP’s Mayawati, SP’s Akhilesh Singh Yadav and National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah have been invited to the swearing-in ceremony.

There is talk of having a coordination committee between the two coalition partners to reconcile differences.

Both the Congress and JD(S) have made many unrealistic promises in their manifestos, especially to the farmers involving Rs 2 lakh crore and it will have to be seen how they will work out a formula, as the state is already burdened with huge debts left behind by the previous government.