H.D. Kumaraswamy picked up his invite to be Karnataka’s next chief minister from Governor Vajubhai Vala on Saturday evening, hours after the Governor’s first, but controversial choice to run the state – B.S. Yeddyurappa – sent in his resignation. As he walked out of Raj Bhavan, Kumaraswamy, the nominee of Congress-Janata Dal Secular alliance for the chief minister’s job, said he had a date for his swearing-in. It seems he also had a tentative guest list ready.
The JDS leader has invited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, BSP chief Mayawati and others for the swearing-in ceremony, which is to be held on May 23.
The ceremony had been planned for Monday but it was changed due to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary.
Kumaraswamy said he will also invite Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi.
On May 19 night, Kumaraswamy, 58, said his JDS and the Congress will sit together and figure out their plans to run the government smoothly. Sources say the Deputy Chief Minister will likely be from the Congress which is also likely to get key portfolios.
Taking a jibe at the BJP and Yeddyurappa, he said the JDS-Congress combine will call for an assembly session to prove majority as soon as possible. “We don’t need 15 days,” he said.
Mr Yeddyurappa’s resignation paved way for the Congress-JDS combine to form the government in Karnataka. The two parties were quick to form an alliance with JDS chief H.D. Kumaraswamy as their head after the Karnataka results put them in second and third position. Together they have 117 members, enough for an outright majority.
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