Karnataka govt formation: Congress, JD(S) working on power-sharing formula
1 min read . Updated: 20 May 2018, 10:03 PM IST
PremiumJD(S)'s H.D. Kumaraswamy will meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday, following which he will hold discussions with Sonia Gandhi to give final touches to Karnataka government formation
New Delhi: After Saturday’s political victory in Karnataka, the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S) have moved to finalize the details of how they will share power in the southern state.
After holding a series of meetings in Bengaluru on Sunday, the focus shifts to New Delhi on Monday when chief minister-designate H. D. Kumaraswamy meets Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Another meeting with former party president Sonia Gandhi is also planned to give final touches to the Karnataka government formation.
The two parties are also planning to finalize the common minimum programme for the new government.
A key representation from south Karnataka (from where a greater representation of elected MLAs come), maintaining a balance between veterans and younger faces, appointing young women MLAs as ministers and most importantly, giving key importance to politically influential Vokkaliga caste in the new government were some of the key factors which came up during the discussion, according to leaders aware of developments. These may reflect in the new council of ministers.
“A lot of our MLAs are from the Vokkaliga community and it was south Karnataka where both the parties retained their strongholds so both of these are likely to find a key representation in the new government," a senior Congress leader in Bengaluru aware of the deliberations said, requesting anonymity. Interestingly, Kumaraswamy belongs to the Vokkaliga community.
With Congress being the larger party (78 seats) in the alliance while JD(S) has won fewer seats (37) and keeping the chief minister’s post, the former is likely to demand two-thirds of representation in the new government on the basis of proportion of MLAs. The deliberations are still on and there could be more clarity on this after Monday’s meeting.
