Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy will take oath as Karnataka chief minister on Wednesday, party General Secretary Danish Ali told ANI. Initially, the ceremony was planned for Monday but was postponed because it coincided with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary. Rajiv Gandhi died on May 21, 1991 in a suicide bomb attack.
Kumaraswamy has invited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, among others, for the swearing-in ceremony. He said he will also ask Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi to attend the event. He is scheduled to meet the Congress leadership in Delhi on Monday.
“Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhar Rao congratulated me,” he told NDTV. “Mayawatiji has also blessed me. I have invited all regional leaders for oath ceremony. I’ve also invited Sonia Gandhiji and Rahul Gandhiji personally.” The event will be held between noon and 1.50 pm at Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru.
Kumaraswamy dismissed reports that the JD(S) and the Congress were working out a power sharing formula for heading the government for 30 months each, PTI reported. The two parties were reportedly discussing a rotation deal, similar to the agreement in 2006 between the JD(S) and the BJP, which had fallen through.
Kumaraswamy said the governor has given him 15 days to prove majority, but he will not need so long. “Just 24 hours after the oath, I’ll prove the majority,” he told ANI.
Unconfirmed reports said the deputy chief minister will be from the Congress. G Parameshwara is a frontrunner for the post, and may also get the home ministry, reported the Hindustan Times. The party MLAs are also likely to get key portfolios in the Cabinet. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said there should be a “give and take” equation.
BJP would have proved majority in 15 days: Amit Shah
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Saturday said BS Yeddyurappa would have been able to prove majority in the House if he had a fortnight, reported NDTV. He called the alliance between the Congress and the JD(S) unholy. He added that JD(S) legislators would have supported a BJP government within days. “Had we got the 15-day period to prove our majority, their party MLAs would have gone to their constituencies and they would have changed their minds,” Shah said.
Shah rejected the allegations by Congress-JD(S) that the BJP tried try to buy legislators. He said if the accusations were true, the BJP would have managed to reach the majority mark.
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