Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the BJP-led NDA just last year. Since the time of its founding in 1999, the JD(S) has never formed a government on its own in Karnataka, but has been in power twice in coalition with both national parties despite being a junior partner -- for 20 months with the BJP from February 2006 and for 14 months with the Congress after the May 2018 assembly polls. Kumaraswamy was chief minister on both occasions. The son of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has now managed to secure a cabinet berth by allying with the BJP, at a time when his party was fighting the “battle for survival”.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.