Karnad's death; Karnataka cabinet expansion rescheduled to June 14
Bengaluru, Jun 10: The much awaited expansion of the H D Kumaraswamy-led cabinet on June 12 aimed at saving the coalition government, has been rescheduled to Friday as the state mourning is in place due to the death of Girish Karnad, an official release said Monday.
"Following the death of Jnanpith awardee, writer and theatre personality Girish Karnad, the swearing-in of new ministers scheduled for Wednesday, June 12 has been rescheduled to Friday, June 14 at 1 PM," the Chief Minister's office said in a statement.
Kumaraswamy on Saturday had announced that Governor Vajubhai Vala has fixed 11.30 am on June 12 for administering the oath of office for the new ministers.
But, with the passing away of Karnad, a renowned playwright and actor Monday, the state government announced a three-day state mourning, during which such official programmes cannot be organized.
After being routed in the Lok Sabha polls and with growing disgruntlement within, the coalition leaders had come to a decision to go in for cabinet expansion by filling in three vacant posts.
According to sources, a cabinet rejig is also on the cards after some time, during which a few ministers will be asked to step down to make way for others, mainly disgruntled legislators.
Of the total 34 ministerial positions in Karnataka, Congress and JD(S) have shared 22 and 12 respectively according to the coalition arrangement. Currently, three posts are vacant, two from JD(S) and one from Congress.
There are talks within the coalition circles about inducting Independent MLA Nagesh and KPJP MLA R Shankar into the cabinet, thereby ensuring that they don't side with the BJP, sources said.
A disgruntled Congress leader or JD(S) MLC B M Farooq is being considered for third vacant post.
Increased number of aspirants in the Congress is worrying the coalition leaders as it may once again lead to disgruntlement and cause disturbance for the smooth functioning of the alliance government.
Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal is likely to be in the city on Tuesday and hold meetings with state unit leaders and disgruntled legislators, aimed at defusing the situation, party sources said.
The coalition leaders fear onslaught by the BJP to destabilise the government, after the saffron party won 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, leaving Congress and JD(S) to share one seat each.
The BJP supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh had won in Mandya.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
