Congress MLA G Parameshwara to be Karnataka deputy chief minister, says Kumaraswamy
Of the state’s 34 ministries, 22 will be headed by Congress leaders and 12 will be with JD(S).
Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy, who will take oath as Karnataka chief minister on Wednesday, said on Tuesday that Congress leader G Parameshwara will be the deputy chief minister, NDTV reported. Parameshwara too will take oath as deputy chief minister on Wednesday, reported ANI.
Of the state’s 34 ministries, 22 would go to the Congress and 12, including the post of the chief minister, will be headed by the JD(S), Parameshwara told NDTV.
Kumaraswamy also said the portfolios in the new Cabinet would be decided on Thursday after the floor test, ANI reported. Kumaraswamy, whose party has formed an alliance with the Congress, said the new Speaker and deputy speaker of the Assembly would be elected on May 25.
The Speaker will be from the Congress while his deputy will be from the JD(S). The Congress has named KR Ramesh Kumar for the job, reported ANI. The JD(S) is yet to name its candidate.
The Janata Dal (Secular) leader also said that there were no differences between his party and the Congress. There were reports that the Congress wanted two deputy chief ministers.
Congress-JDS leaders met and discussed about the cabinet formation, out of 34 ministries, 22 ministries will go with Congress Party and 12 ministries, including CM will be with be with JDS. Portfolio allocation to be decided after floor test: KC Venugopal, Congress #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/SEY9wej2n0
— ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2018
Today we took decision regarding the expansion (of the cabinet). Speaker & deputy speaker would be elected on 25 May. Portfolios would be decided day after tomorrow. Everything is alright, no differences: #Karnataka CM designate HD Kumaraswamy pic.twitter.com/x0BNHH1XGy
— ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2018
Kumaraswamy met the Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Monday, and invited them to his oath-taking ceremony. At that time, he had said that the modalities of the Cabinet would be decided on Tuesday.