Congress and JD(S) are likely to announce a power-sharing deal for their coalition government in Karnataka on Friday, with an unambiguous reiteration that H D Kumaraswamy will be chief minister for the full term and the two parties will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls together.
The contentious issue of portfolio allocation has also been resolved and it has been decided that the lucrative finance department will be run by the JD(S) while the Congress will manage the Home Department. New portfolios for ministers are likely to be announced soon.
Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot on Thursday stated that contrary to speculation, the protracted negotiations were focussed not just on ministerial portfolios to be apportioned between the two partners but also on other dimensions — setting up a coordination committee, common minimum programme and stability of the government.
“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.” JD(S) secretary general Danish Ali said.
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 the national capital. On Wednesday night, Congress president Rahul Gandhi joined the negotiators through a conference call to settle matters.
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