Kumaraswamy sworn-in as CM with a strong Cong tail wagging
After days of political circus and a sudden downpour from the skies, Karnataka got its 24th Chief Minister when Janata Dal leader H D Kumaraswamy took oath in front of the sprawling Vidhana Soudha. The oath was administered by Governor Vajubhai Vala.
Minutes after HDK took oath, Karnataka got its first Dalit deputy chief minister when G Parameshwara, Congress party chief of the state, took oath. He has been KPCC president for eight years and an MLA for the fourth time.
But, at the swearing in ceremony, the Congress and the JD(S) supporters stood separately. Former CM Yeddyurappa was at his sarcastic best when he said this government comes with an expiry date; and that is three months, not 5 years. BJP leaders boycotted the swearing-in ceremony saying they did not want to see an illegal government taking over against the will of the electorate.
This will be HDK’s second chance to head a government. The first was in February 2006, leading a coalition with the BJP.
Congress heavyweight KR Ramesh Kumar, a five-term MLA, will be the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker’s post will go to the JD(S). Kumar was a Speaker from 1994 to 1999. He was then in the Janata Dal.
According to the final formula thrashed out in Delhi between HDK and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, JD(S) will get 11 berths, Congress 21, excluding the CM and the deputy CM. Karnataka cabinet’s sanctioned strength is 34.
Though HDK is the CM, he will preside over a government that is loaded with Congress heavyweights, making his life ahead very uncomfortable and full of compromises. He will seek the trust vote on May 25. Sources said all ministers will be sworn in on May 29.
As DK Shivakumar also mounted pressure and staked claim for the deputy CM’s post, the high command may make him the KPCC president considering the 2019 polls. But sources said he may settle for the post along with a berth in the cabinet.
The present HDK government has stuck to political tradition of swimming against the tide. Since 1983, when Ramakrishna Hegde formed the first non-Con- gress government in the state, Karnataka has always had a government that swims against the national current. When Hegde's Janata Party came to power, Congress was the ruling party at the Centre.
When the Janata Dal gave way to Congress in Vidhana Soudha in 1989, the National Front led by Janata Dal's V P Singh assumed power in New Delhi.
But just two small exceptions: in 2013, when Congress CM Siddaramaiah was sworn in, UPA was in power and when the United Front under H D Deve Gowda was ruling the nation, Janata Dal's J H Patel was ruling the state.
When Congress chief minister S M Krishna was in power from 1999 to 2004, Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA was ruling at the Centre. Krishna was to blunder soon when he advanced elections by six months, sensing a wave in favour of the Congress at the national level. But Krishna failed to attain a majority and a coalition government of Congress and JD(S) came to power, which collapsed too soon.
Some analysts say that the recent Assembly election results were surely anti-Congress but, at the same time, not pro-BJP either. This makes it difficult to decide which way Karnataka is currently tilting. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Karnataka voters may opt for strong local leaders rather than a party.
Yeddyurappa was at his sarcastic best when he said this government comes with an expiry date; and that is three months, not 5 years.