JD(S)-BJP finalise power sharing

Janata Dal (S) leader and chief minister-designate H D Kumaraswamy is on his way to Delhi for talks with BJP leaders to work out a common minimum programme for the coalition government in Karnataka. BJP sources said the two parties had already decided the sharing formula for ministries.

While deputy chief minister-designate B S Yediurappa of the BJP would be the finance minister, the party would get 18 ministries, including Public Works, Rural Development, Education and Public Distribution

The JD (S), they said, would will get Home and 15 other ministries, including agriculture, water resources and health.

"BJP leader L K Advani may attend the swearing-in ceremony of the first government in South India the BJP will be heading," said BJP spokersperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Prasad also took on the UPA government at the Centre over the creation of a new ministry of minority affairs saying it was pandering to the minority vote bank.

"There is no point in having a ministry like this. It is one in a series of measures like reservations for minorities, minority status to Aligarh Muslim University and the review petition over the IMDT Act," said Prasad.