Kumaraswamy meets Sonia, Rahul, discusses government formation
New Delhi: JD-S leader and Karnataka Chief Minister-designate HD Kumaraswamy on Monday met Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to discuss ministerial berth sharing between the coalition partners ahead of his swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday.
The details of the meeting were not divulged but the sources said the Congress demanded two posts for Deputy Chief Ministers — one for a Dalit and the other for a Lingayat, 12 for ministers and one for the Speaker. However, Kumaraswamy said the matter will be finalised when the two sides sit together on Tuesday in Bengaluru.
The Congress has authorised its General Secretary incharge of Karnataka KC Venugopal to discuss the matter with local Congress leadership, including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He will also discuss the issue with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leadership.
“Rahulji cleared the modalities to be done. He has given permission to Venugopal to discuss all those matters and finalise everything. He will sit together to finalise things,” Kumaraswamy told reporters after meeting the Gandhis.
He also invited both the Congress leaders to his oath-taking ceremony in Bengaluru on Wednesday. “Both agreed to come,” he said.
Kumaraswamy earlier met Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati here and discussed plans of putting in place a Congress and JD-S coalition government. The JD-S contested the Karnataka election in a pre-poll alliance with the BSP and later had a post-poll tie-up with the Congress.
JD-S General Secretary and Spokesperson Danish Ali said Kumaraswamy and Congress leaders discussed “long term relationship on mutual trust” of the newly-formed coalition and vowed to give a joint contest to the BJP in Karnataka in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Ali told NDTV: “This is what we have decided. We will fight together.”
Asked about Congress’s demand of two Deputy Chief Ministers, he said: “Who will be their Deputy CM its up to them (Congress).”
Before Kumaraswamy meet the Gandhis, senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot met Rahul Gandhi and are learnt to have discussed issues related to government formation in Karnataka.
Besides Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati and Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and K. Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana) are expected to attend the oath-taking ceremony.