Rahul Gandhi Okays Parameshwara For Karnataka Deputy CM

Bengaluru: The Congress' Karnataka President G. Parameshwara would be the Deputy Chief Minister in the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S)-Congress coalition government, a party leader said on Tuesday.

"Party President Rahul Gandhi has approved the name of Parameshwara for the Deputy Chief Minister post in the coalition government," Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal told reporters here.

Parameshwara will take oath after JD-S legislative party leader H.D. Kumarswamy is sworn-in as the Chief Minister by Governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday evening on the grand steps of state secretariat Vidhana Soudha.

K.R. Ramesh of the Congress will be the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Congress leader said. "Deputy Speaker will be from the JD-S," added Venugopal.

The Deputy Speaker will be named on Thursday and names of the cabinet ministers and their portfolios will be announced after the floor test in the hung House. The 34-member ministry will have 22 cabinet ministers from the Congress and 12 from the JD-S.

"A joint coordination committee with members from both the parties will be set up in the next couple of days," said Venugopal.

Vala invited Kumaraswamy on Saturday to form the coalition government after the fall of the three-day BJP government as its Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned before the trust vote as his party fell seven short of the 111-halfway mark majority in a hung house of 222 members currently.

Several national leaders including United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Chief Ministers of non-BJP states and heads of regional parties like N. Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala),ASamajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and Kollywood superstar Kamal Haasan of Makkal Needhi Maiam party in Tamil Nadu will also be in attendance.

The JD-S-Congress coalition government has 117 members, including one from regional party Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janata Paksha (KPJP) and an Independent.

In the 224-member Assembly, which currently has 222 members, the JD-S has 37, including one from BSP, Congress 78 and BJP 104. The JD-S had agreed to form a post-poll alliance with the Congress, with the latter backing the former in the government formation.

IANS