JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday claimed that he had not asked the Congress to keep its leaders D K Shivakumar and M B Patil out of the cabinet.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru before leaving for Sringeri, Gowda also said that it was untrue that he was interfering in the decision making processes of the JD(S)-Congress coalition, including the cabinet formation.
"It's been reported that I have placed a demand before the Congress that D K Shivakumar and M B Patil be kept out of the cabinet," said Deve Gowda.
"This is far from the truth. It's Congress decision who it wants to give the ministerial berths to or who it wants to make the deputy chief minister. I have placed no demands. My only desire is the smooth functioning of the coalition government," the 85-year-old former prime minister added.
Gowda also claimed that he had not "summoned" any government officials to his Padmanabhanagar residence.
Conceding that Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha and police chief Neelamani Raju had visited him at his house, he, however, termed it as a courtesy call.
"No discussions were held," he added.
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