JD- S, Cong yet to agree on Cabinet, dy CM post
With barely a day left for his swearing- in as chief minister of a JD( S)– Congress coalition government on Wednesday, H. D. Kumaraswamy is battling a series of thorny issues, like the deputy chief minister’s post and the contours of the 33- member Cabinet, on which the stability of the coalition and its future rests.
While senior Congress leaders, including party general secretary K. C. Venugopal, said in Delhi that the Assembly Speaker’s post would go to the Congress, other vexed issue are likely to come up for discussion at a meeting of Congress and JD( S) leaders in Bengaluru on Tuesday, said sources.
The choice of Speaker had become contentious with the Congress reportedly insisting that its nominee should get the plum post as it has a higher number of MLAs — 78 — in the Assembly against 38 of the JD( S) and the BSP. The number of berths each coalition partner will get may also be debated at the meeting on Tuesday with the Congress demanding at least 20. While the Congress has mooted the idea of having two deputy chief ministers, the JD( S) is not game for it, sources said.
Bhopal, May 21: Scores of BJP activists from Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency, at present represented by party stalwart and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, have joined the Congress in MP in the election year, the Opposition party claimed on Monday.
However, the ruling BJP has dismissed the Congress’ claim as a “false rumour and a drama”. The high- profile seat had been represented by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan five times in past.