HDK postpones swearing-in to May 23

Bengaluru: HD Kumaraswamy, the Chief Ministerial candidate of the allied Congress and JD(S) parties, was invited by Governor Vajubhai Vala to form the government. HDK’s swearing in ceremony was initially scheduled to be held on Monday, May 21 but, was postponed to Wednesday.

Kumaraswamy told reporters that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BSP chief Mayawati, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao and several other regional leaders would be invited for the swearing-in ceremony.

After the results on May 15 showed a hung Assembly with the BJP winning only 104 seats, eight seats short of the simple majority, the JD(S) and the Congress swiftly formed a post-poll alliance and approached the governor to form the government. The Governor however, chose to give the BJP led by BS Yeddyurappa, the single largest party, a chance to form the government and gave them 15 days time to prove their makority which the Supreme Court refused and asked them to prove their majority on May 15 at 4 pm.

Having failed to secure the required numbers to prove their majority during the floor test, BSY gave a 20-minute long emotional speech at the end of which he stated that he was going to resign. He then walked out of the Assembly followed by the other BJP legislators and leaders and met the governor to submit his resignation.

The Governor then called on HDK to form the next government as the leader of the JD(S) legislative party with the support of the Congress.

At first, HDK had stated that he would be swearing-in as the new Chief Minister on Monday, May 21 by taking the oath at 11 am in the Kanteerva stadium. However, later on Saturday night, he said the swearing-in ceremony would take place on May 23, but did not cite any reasons.

A JD(S) leader said the swearing-in date has been shifted to May 23 as May 21 happens to be the date on which former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bombing at Sriperumbudur near Chennai in 1991.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the governor, Kumaraswamy said the governor has directed him to prove the majority on the floor of the House in 15 days but he would do it much before.

After a meeting with Congress leaders, Kumaraswamy said they also discussed about moving the confidence of motion to May 24.

He said he would meet Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on May 21 to extend his gratitude to them. “I will also discuss how many Congress and JD(S) MLAs will become ministers,” said Kumaraswamy.

He said a coordination committee would be formed to prepare a common minimum programme to implement the promises made by the two coalition partners.

Kumaraswamy said there were no other discussions with the coalition partners other than winning the confidence vote.