Kumaraswamy arrives in Delhi, to meet Sonia, Rahul

Team Udayavani, May 21, 2018, 5:46 PM IST

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Ahead of his swearing-in as the Karnataka chief minister, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy arrived in the national capital today and is likely to meet Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to discuss the power-sharing arrangement.

He is scheduled to first meet BSP chief Mayawati and later hold parleys with the Congress leaders.

The JD(S) fought the May 12 assembly election in alliance with the BSP, and joined hands with the Congress after the verdict throws up a hung assembly on May 15.

During his meeting with Congress leaders, Kumaraswamay is likely to finalise the number of ministerial berths a party would get and who would become the deputy chief minister.

The JD(S) leader has already indicated that there won’t be a rotational arrangement with Congress for the post of the chief minister.

According to sources, there is a proposal to have two deputy chief ministers to strike a balance between the two parties. Congress’s G Parameshwara is frontrunner for the deputy chief minister’s post.

Kumaraswamy is scheduled to take oath as chief minister on May 23 and the floor test is expected to happen within 24 hours. Both Congress and JD(S) MLAs will remain confined to their hotels till the floor test.

A small group of MLAs will be sworn in as ministers along with Kumaraswamy on Wednesday, the sources said.

Many regional party leaders including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Kumaraswamy was invited to form the government after B S Yeddyurappa of the BJP on May 19 stepped down as the chief minister without facing the floor test in the state assembly as the BJP fell short of numbers.

The May 12 Karnataka assembly polls threw up a hung assembly, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats. The Congress was next with 78 and the JD(S) followed with 37. The BSP has one MLA and two seats went to Independents.