A week in Government, K’taka Chief Minister HDK has a Deputy and no Cabinet

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, May 29, 2018 :  Almost a week since Karnataka got a new government, it has only two ministers including Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

 

The Janata Dal Secular leader and his deputy from the Congress, G Parameshwara, remain the only members of the cabinet since the grand swearing in ceremony on Wednesday that segued into the opposition’s anti-BJP unity show.

In a sign of trouble from the word "go" - as predicted by the BJP - the coalition partners are unable to agree on an important ministry, finance, sources have said.

The Congress is to get 22 of the 34 ministries in the state and the JDS 12 as part of the deal between the two parties when they formed an alliance after a hung verdict.

But differences over ministries seem to have slowed the whole process down.

Mr Kumaraswamy was in Delhi on Monday and reportedly held discussions with the Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad.

This morning, sources said the finance ministry remained the only sticking point. It is believed that Mr Kumaraswamy wants the portfolio to himself but the Congress is insisting on the finance portfolio.

Dismissing reports that the ministry allotment would be further delayed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s trip abroad accompanying mother Sonia Gandhi for a medical check-up, a Congress leaders admitted there is a "minor disagreement" which would be sorted out by this evening.
 
The two parties had a similar dispute just after being invited to form government last week. The Congress was reportedly angling for two posts of deputy chief minister to accommodate, apart from its state chief G Parameswara, DK Shivakumar, who has taken credit for keeping the party’s lawmakers in line when the BJP was allegedly trying to raise numbers for its floor test. The JDS, however, stayed firm that there would be only one deputy.

The BJP - which took power for two days before quitting because of lack of numbers - has forecast that the coalition will not last beyond a few months. BJP leaders have also criticized Mr Kumaraswamy’s comment that he is at the "mercy" of the Congress and not public pressure.


courtesy:NDTV