Before trust vote, G Parameshwara says yet to finalise if HD Kumaraswamy will be Karnataka CM for full 5-year term

BENGALURU: As Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy braces himself for a trust vote on the floor of the House on Friday, Deputy CM G Parameshwara has said that the modalities of the Congress-JDS government have not yet been finalised. He said that it has not even been decided yet if Kumaraswamy will continue as the CM for the entire 5-year term.

“We have not yet discussed those modalities. We are also yet to decide on what portfolios have to go to them and what should be with us, then five years term- whether they should be or we should also…All those modalities we have still not discussed,” Parameshwara said on Thursday.

However, he added that the main aim of the government will be to give a good administration. “After discussing.. Looking at the pros and cons (we will decide on full 5-year term), our main intention is to give good administration.”

While Parameshwara has said that the modalities are yet to be finalised, Kumaraswamy had said even before the swearing-in ceremony that his party was not looking to work out any power-sharing formula of heading the government for 30 months each with its coalition partner the Congress, as reports suggested. Dismissing reports, he had said, “no such talks have taken place.”

Parameshwara has also ruled out any fissures in the Congress over the party’s choice for the Deputy Chief Minister post or over the allotment of portfolios. “I have seen reports about (this) only in the media. In Congress party, there are several leaders who are capable of becoming Deputy Chief Minister or Chief Minister…That’s the asset of the Congress party. It is left to the party high-command to decide on who has to be given what position in this situation when we are in a coalition government,” he said.

However, he added that all MLAs are together and exuded confidence that the government will be able to pass the floor test.