Karnataka: Kumaraswamy responds to Shah's 'unholy Cong-JD(S) alliance' jibe

Amit Shah dubbed the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka as "unholy" and said there was nothing wrong in BJP seeking to form the new state government. Catch latest Karnataka govt formation updates

A political slugfest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress continues in Karnataka, even days after the results to the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 were announced.

In his first interaction after BJP failed to solve the Karnataka equation, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday hit out at the Congress for "preaching lessons of democracy", and dubbed its alliance with Janata Dal (Secular) as 'unholy'. 

"They don't see their history and preach us democracy. Those who put lakhs of people into jails without a reason and censored the press are preaching us democracy. Leave Congress aside, I am surprised to see even you people (media) listening to it," he said in an obvious attack on the Congress for the Emergency of 1975.

Later in the day, Karnataka's chief minister-elect HD Kumaraswamy hit back at Shah, calling his thought process 'unholy'.

"According to you, Congress-JD(S) is 'unholy alliance'. Then which is holy alliance? Was it trying to purchase legislators elected on other party symbols? Since no one got the majority, secular parties came together and there is a common philosophy behind it," Kumaraswamy said.

"This philosophy is to protect everyone's interest and if you think this is unholy alliance, your thought process is unholy," he added.

Kumaraswamy will take oath as chief minister of Karnataka on Wednesday. Here's all you need to know about his second swearing-in as Chief Minister of Karnataka:

When and where will the swearing-in take place?

The swearing-in is scheduled to be held on May 23 at 4.30 pm on the steps of the Vidhan Soudha, the state secretariat. The swearing-in was earlier scheduled to be held on Monday but was later postponed as it coincided with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's death anniversary.

Eminent politicians who will be attending the swearing-in:  

• United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi

• Congress President Rahul Gandhi 

• Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati 

• West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee 

• Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu

• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijay

•  Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

• Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejaswi Yadav

• Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao

•  Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M.K. Stalin

Power-sharing between the two allies

The final deal between the two allies - Congress and JD(U) - is expected to be hammered out on Tuesday. According to reports, Kumaraswamy had held discussions on sharing of ministerial berths with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Monday.

Congress has authorised its General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal to finalise the matter after holding discussions with top leaders of state Congress and JD(S).

What Congress has demanded

Sources told news agency IANS that the Congress has demanded two posts for Deputy Chief Ministers -- one for a Dalit and the other for a Lingayat, 12 for ministers and one for the Speaker.
 

With agency inputs