Bengaluru: Congress, the major partner in the coalition with JD-S in Karnataka, will have 21 more ministers while the party led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will get 11 more and all of them will be sworn in June 6 in the first expansion of the Cabinet.
While the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) will keep the Finance portfolio, the Congress will get Home among other departments.
The alliance partners also decided to set up a coalition coordination and monitoring committee, which will meet once in a month.
The details of the ministries and portfolios to be shared by the two parties were disclosed by Congress in-charge for the state K.C. Venugopal at a press conference here.
“The Governor (Vajubhia Vala) has fixed 2 p.m. on Wednesday for the swearing-in of all the 32 cabinet ministers. The venue for the oath-ceremony will be decided soon,” Kumaraswamy told reporters here.
As Vala will be in New Delhi to attend the all-India Governors’ Conference at Rashtrapathi Bhavan from June 3-5, he advised the Chief Minister on Friday to expand the Cabinet on June 6 afternoon when he will be here.
The alliance partners have decided on the portfolios to be shared and the names of the 32 legislators to be made ministers will be announced before June 6.
“As agreed by the leaders of the respective parties, the Congress will have 22 ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, and JD-S 12 ministers, including the Chief Minister in the 34-member ministry,” Venugopal said.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi and JD-S supremo H.D. Deve Gowda have approved the sharing of the portfolios.
The Congress, with 78 legislators, got Home, Irrigation, Bengaluru Development, Industries, Health, Revenue/Muzrai, Urban Development, Rural Development, Agriculture, Medical Education, Housing, Labour, Women & Child Welfare, Forest & Environment, Mines & Geology, Social Welfare, Food & Civil Supplies, Law & Parliamentary Affairs, IT, BT and Science & Technology, Kannada Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs, Haj & Wakf and Minority Affairs, and Ports & Inland Transport Development departments.
The JD-S, which has 36 legislators, will have Finance & Excise, Information, Intelligence, General Administration, Planning & Statistics, Public Works Department (PWD), Power, Cooperation, Tourism, General Education, Animal Husbandary & Fisheries, Horticulture & Sericulture, Small-Scale Industries, Transport and Minor Irrigation.
“The remaining portfolios will be decided by the Chief Minister in consultation with the Deputy Chief Minister,” said Venugopal.
The coordination committee will have Kumaraswamy, Parameshwara, former Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Venugopal and JD-S National Secretary Kunwar Danish Ali as its members.
“Siddramaiah will be the chairman of the committee and Ali its convener. The committee will clear all appointments to statutory boards and corporations. Two-thirds of the posts in the boards and corporations will be headed by Congress members and one-third of posts by JD-S members,” said Venugopal.
The parties decided to have a common agenda for governance, based on their poll manifestos.
“Two designated spokespersons, one each from the respective party, will jointly brief the media,” he said.
Both the parties have also decided to contest the General Elections in 2019 as pre-poll allies.
Justifying the post-poll alliance, Venugopal said as the May 12 Assembly election threw up a hung Assembly, the Congress and the JD-S formed the coalition government since half the electorate voted for both the parties.
“The leaders of both the parties have resolved to ensure the coalition government completes its five-year term and provides a transparent, accountable and responsive administration, with top priority to farmers, youth and women. It will ensure economic growth across of the state,” added Venugopal.
IANS