'Kumaraswamy will tolerate things as long as he can': Minister H.D Revanna
Bengaluru, Dec 28: Discontent within the ruling coalition in Karnataka has once again come to the fore, with senior JD(S) minister H D Revanna Friday saying his brother and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will "tolerate things as long as he can".
The PWD minister also hit out at the Congress for reportedly taking away the home department from a SC leader like G Parameshwara, who is also the deputy chief minister.
"Kumaraswamy will tolerate as long as he can, but one day what will happen? We are not sitting here fearing (about losing power)," Revanna told reporters here in response to a question about a Congressman expected to be appointed as the chief minister's political secretary.
Asked whether he was saying that the chief minister was tolerating despite Congress's 'high handedness', he tried to evade the question, saying the party leadership decides all issues and he will not interfere.
"Why should I say there is lack of coordination between JD(S) and Congress. Everything will be discussed and decided by JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda, chief minister, Congress leaders and their general secretary KC Venugopal," he added.
Revanna's remarks have come at a time when JD(S) workers and local leaders have asked the leadership to contest all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the coming parliamentary polls, unhappy over the Congress's attitude towards the ruling coalition in Karnataka.
Expressing displeasure about Parameshwara reportedly being moved out of the Home Ministry, Revanna rubbished the reports blaming him for it.
He, however, indicated that some people within the Congress party were behind it.
"I know what kind of pressure Parameshwara was under from his own party. Parameshwara is from the SC community, what (wrong) did he do as home minister? Was it necessary to remove him from the post? As deputy chief minister, he should have both," he said.
Pointing out that Parameshwara has toiled for Congress for eight years as its president and done good work as Home Minister for six months, Revanna said he has great respect for him.
"Why they (the Congress) did it? What are the reasons behind it? I don't know, but I had never interfered in his department. If any issues were there from my district I have discussed, that's all," he said.
He said if Parameshwara's party cannot tolerate a SC community leader as deputy chief minister, "What can I say?"
"Why blame me for his removal as home minister? Why allege that he was listening to brothers (Kumaraswamy and Revanna), so he was removed? What do we have to do with his removal?" he questioned.
As per the recommendation sent to Chief Minister Kumaraswamy by Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal, the Home Ministry has been allocated to M B Patil, who was inducted into the cabinet on Saturday.
According to reports, the meeting between top party leaders here on Wednesday to decide on portfolios was not cordial, as Parameshwara expressed displeasure over being asked to give up some key portfolios, especially home ministry that he has, by Siddaramaiah.
However, both Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara had rubbished the reports they had squabbled over the issue.
Revanna has been constantly accused by the Congress of interfering in other ministries.
Recently several local level leaders of the Congress party had petitioned CLP leader Siddaramaiah about alleged ill-treatment to them under coalition government and working style of a few JD(S) ministers, especially Revanna.
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New govt in Maharashtra to be formed on Dec 5, Fadnavis frontrunner for CM post: BJP leader
Mumbai (PTI): Mahayuti alliance's new government in Maharashtra will be formed on December 5 with Devendra Fadnavis emerging as the frontrunner to become the next chief minister again, a senior BJP leader said on Saturday.
In the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) retained power, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 132 seats, followed by Shiv Sena with 57 and NCP with 41 seats.
However, even after the announcement of poll results a week ago (on November 23), the formation of the government has been delayed as the tripartite alliance is yet to decide on who will be the next chief minister. Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar met BJP president J P Nadda and Union minister Amit Shah late Thursday to discuss a power-sharing pact for the next government.
A key Mahayuti meeting scheduled on Friday was put off and likely to take place on Sunday now as caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde headed to his native village in Satara district, delaying government formation further.
The BJP leader, who did not wish to be quoted, said the swearing-in of the new government will take place on December 5.
Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who was the chief minister twice and deputy chief minister in the last government, is the frontrunner for the top post, the leader said.
Another senior BJP leader said the chief minister's swearing-in ceremony will take place at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.
But before that, a meeting will be held on December 2 to pick the BJP legislature party leader, he said.
Caretaker CM Shinde has made it clear that he will fully support BJP leadership's decision to name the next CM, and that he won't be a hurdle in the process, while Ajit Pawar-led NCP has backed Fadnavis for the chief minister's post.
In the assembly elections, Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback. The grand old party registered one of its worst performances in the state assembly polls after it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) could bag only 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20.
