Kumaraswamy to announce Karnataka cabinet extension, portfolios today

Bengaluru: Congress and Janata Dal Secular or JD(S) are expected to announce the cabinet expansion and portfolio allocation for their coalition government in Karnataka today, with unambiguous reiteration that H D Kumaraswamy will be the chief minister for the full term and the two parties will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together.

The development was announced by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday. He added that a decision has been arrived at with the consensus of everyone after several rounds of deliberations. “I, Deve Gowda (JDS supremo) and Venugopal (Congress general secretary) will sit together and discuss developments that have happened in Delhi and probably tomorrow we will come before public regarding cabinet formation and portfolio allocation, as also on the coordination committee,” Kumaraswamy told reporters. Discussions were on between both parties on cabinet expansion and portfolio allocation, soon after Kumaraswamy proved majority on the floor of the assembly on May 25, two days after his swearing-in on May 23.

Among key portfolios, finance will go to JD(S) while the home department will be run by Congress. JD(S) secretary general Danish Ali told The Times of India, “The announcement will be a written agreement resolving all issues to run a stable coalition for five years. That is why it has taken so long. We wanted everything to be on paper so that the government could run smoothly for its full term under the chief ministership of H D Kumaraswamy.” On Thursday, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and JD(S)'s Ali flew to Bengaluru for final talks with local leaders after five rounds of negotiations in New Delhi. On Wednesday night, Congress president Rahul Gandhi joined the negotiators through a conference call to settle matters.