Karnataka politics: Why Kumaraswamy’s oath-taking ceremony was postponed to Wednesday?

Bengaluru, May 21: After Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) BS Yeddyurappa on Saturday resigned as the chief minister of Karnataka, just minutes ahead of the floor test in the state Legislative Assembly, it was declared that CM-designate of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) alliance, HD Kumaraswamy, will take oath as the new head of the southern state on Monday.

Almost all the major media houses reported Kumaraswamy's swearing-in ceremony on Monday. However, on late Saturday evening during a television debate, JD(S) spokesperson Danish Ali "revealed" that the much-awaited oath-taking ceremony will take place on Wednesday.

When asked about the reason behind the delay, Ali told NDTV that as a mark of respect to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, whose death anniversary coincided with the event, the alliance partners decided to have the grand ceremony in Karnataka on Wednesday.

To Ali's reply, journalist Sreenivasan Jain, who was hosting the debate on NDTV, stated in a rather humourous manner, that it seems both the new political partners have already started respecting each other a lot.

On Monday, the nation marked the 27th death anniversary of former PM of the Congress. Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in Tamil Nadu on 21 May, 1991 by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants.

On Saturday, Kumaraswamy met Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala to stake claim to form the government in Karnataka. Vala gave him 15 days to prove his majority on the floor of the house. Kumaraswamy stated that he would prove his majority much before that as the Congress-JD(S) together has 115 MLAs and support of two more Independents, which is way past the required numbers.

Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy will be meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the national capital to discuss about the sharing of cabinet berths between the two parties.

While it is clear that Kumaraswamy will be the CM of the new coalition government in Karnataka, senior Congress leader G Parameshwara on Sunday told reporters that the Congress-JD(S) combine might have two deputy CMs.

Kumaraswamy told reporters that he was confident of ruling a successful coalition government for the next five years in Karnataka. He added that the coalition government won't have rotational CMs, as was the case earlier when political parties had decided to join hands to run the southern state.