Congress wins Jayanagar seat, party's tally goes up to 80 in Karnataka

The Congress on Wednesday won the election in Bengaluru's Jayanagar constituency in Karnataka, where assembly polls were held on June 11. Congress now has 80 seats in the assembly.

The Congress was initially leading over the BJP by a margin of over 7,300 votes in the first two hours of counting of votes for the Jayanagar Assembly constituency.

While Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy was leading with 27,195 votes till 10 am, BJP's B N Prahlad had secured 19,873 votes, poll officials said.

The Assembly elections were held across Karnataka on May 12, but poll in Jayanagar was countermanded following the death of BJP candidate B N Vijayakumar, who was holding the seat.

An estimated 55 per cent polling was recorded in the constituency on June 11.

BJP's B N Prahlad, brother of Vijayakumar, and senior Congress leader and former minister Ramalinga Reddy's daughter Sowmya Reddy were locked in a direct contest for the seat.

In all, 19 candidates were in the fray. Police have made elaborate security arrangement in and around the counting centre.

Ahead of polls, Janata Dal Secular had on June 5 pulled out its candidate from the contest and extended the party's support to its ruling coalition partner, the Congress. 

Denied cabinet post, Congress leaders MB Patil and Dinesh Gundu Rao meet Rahul Gandhi

The central leadership had called the disgruntled leaders for talks to resolve the matter after state Congress leaders could not placate them.

Amid rebellion in Karnataka Congress over Cabinet formation, former Minister M.B. Patil and working president of party's state unit Dinesh Gundu Rao, who were denied ministerial berths, on Saturday met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

According to sources, Patil met Gandhi and then had a meeting with party's senior leader Ahmed Patel.

The central leadership had called the disgruntled leaders for talks in order to resolve the matter after state Congress leadership could not placate them.

Considering the seniority of Patil in the party, he could be given a ministerial berth in the Karnataka Cabinet.

Patil was very upset on being denied a ministerial post and he had told reporters that "his self-respect was hurt".

Earlier, there were reports that the party would rotate ministers to placate disgruntled MLAs and that non-performers could be dropped after six months.

On the situation in Karnataka over distribution of portfolios, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said: "We are all here to serve the people to honour our manifesto, to honour the commitments we made to the people during our campaign, to the farmers, to the poor, to the unemployed youth and so on and so forth.

"These are processes and it is a very vibrant democracy which is full of sound and light. We are here to honour our commitments. These processes have to be lived through, gone through and then we come out with it."

As per the agreement between the alliance partners, the cabinet posts and portfolios are shared in the ratio of 21:11, with the Congress getting 21, including the Deputy Chief Minister rank, as it has 78 legislators in the hung assembly, and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-) 11, including Chief Minister rank, as it has 36 lawmakers.

JD-S leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and Congress state unit president G. Parameshwara were sworn-in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister on May 23.

Of the 25 ministers, 14 are from Congress and 9 from Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and one each from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Karnataka Pragnyavanta Janata Paksha (KPJP), which are allies of both the coalition partners.

Congress Gets Deputy Chief Minister, Lion's Share In Karnataka Ministries

 Karnataka will have its second chief minister in a week as Janata Dal Secular chief HD Kumaraswamy will take oath today along with his deputy, Congress' G Parameshwara. There was no word on whether there would be a second deputy for Mr Kumaraswamy - a Congress plan on which the two parties did not appear to be on the same page.

At a meeting this evening, the two parties also finalised the shape of the cabinet. Of the state's 34 ministries, 22 would go to the Congress and 12, including the post of the Chief Minister, will be with the JD(S), said Mr Parameshwara, who also heads the state unit of the Congress.

The berths will be decided after floor test, which will be held tomorrow, said KK Venugopal, one of the key Congress leaders from Karnataka.

The post of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker will be evenly divided - the Speaker will be from the Congress, his deputy will be from the Janata Dal United. The Congress has named Ramesh Kumar for the job, the JD(S) is yet to name its candidate.

The crucial meeting was held after a green signal from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, whom Mr Kumaraswamy met in Delhi on Monday. The agenda also included the matter of deputies as well as the power-sharing formula. Mr Gandhi, however, left the decisions on these issues to the state leaders, said Mr Venugopal, who was present at the meeting.

The Congress and the JD(S) had announced a last-minute tie-up during the counting of votes to keep the BJP out of power in the state. Though together, the two parties could command majority in the state assembly, the BJP, as the single largest party, was invited to form government by Governor Vajubhai Vala.

BS Yeddyurappa, who took oath on Thursday after a hectic appeal by the Congress and a midnight hearing in Supreme Court, stepped down minutes before Saturday's trust vote, which many expected him to lose.

Mr Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi will be in Bengaluru today for the oath of Mr Kumaraswamy. The ceremony will be attended by a chunk of key opposition leaders, including chief ministers of four states.

Kumaraswamy May Have Two Deputies, Will Take Oath Alone, Says Congress

 Karnataka may have not one, but two deputy chief ministers, state Congress chief G Parameshwara has said. The final call will be taken by the Central leadership, whom HD Kumaraswamy, the Chief Minister of the alliance will meet today.

The leader of the regional party Janata Dal Secular will take oath on Wednesday - alone, said senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar. The rest of his cabinet is likely to take oath only after the trust vote, which is likely to be held on Wednesday.

Under the last-minute deal between the Congress and the JD(S) on the day of vote counting, the Congress will choose a Deputy Chief Minister -- a post that's likely to be filled by Mr Parameshwara. Leaders of the JD(S), however, did not rule out the possibility of two Deputy Chief Ministers to strike a balance between the two parties.

Ahead of the meeting with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi on Monday afternoon, Mr Kumaraswamy is likely to make a detour to Tirumala, to seek blessings of Lord Balaji at the famous temple of Tirupati.

On Saturday night, in a key meeting, the Congress and the JD(S) finalised the details of power sharing. The Congress, which won 78 seats in comparison to Mr Kumaraswamy's party's 38, will get the lion's share of the ministries, although the portfolios are yet to be worked out.

BS Yeddyurappa, who took over as Chief Minister, resigned on the third day, ahead of the trust vote.
Mr Kumaraswamy told NDTV that the two parties will also draw up a Common Minimum Programme to earmark the key governance issues of the southern state. Both sides have also agreed to constitute a coalition coordination committee.

The BJP, whose government headed by BS Yeddyurappa had to resign for want of majority, ahead of the trust vote on Saturday, says the state could witness elections soon. Party lawmaker Anand Kumar said, "We would come out stronger in the elections. Only the BJP was given the mandate, but the Congress has entered into an opportunistic unholy alliance".

But BS Yeddyurappa, who took over as Chief Minister, resigned on the third day, ahead of the trust vote. The Governor had controversially given him 15 days to prove majority, triggering allegations of poaching. But the Supreme Court, in response to a petition by the Congress against the Governor's decision, had directed him to take the floor test within 24 hours.