JD(S) sore as Cong releases portfolios' list to media

The JD(S) is upset with its coalition partner, Congress, for releasing the list of allocation of portfolios to ministers to the media under the party letterhead, instead of sending it to directly to the chief minister.

A letter addressed to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy by Congress general secretary incharge of Karnataka K C Venugopal, with the list of ministers, was released to the media on Friday morning.

“Before the chief minister sent the list to the Governor’s office, the Congress released the letter addressed to the chief minister to the media. The Congress should have just sent the letter to the chief minister and he would, in turn, have recommended the names and portfolios to the Governor. Then, Raj Bhavan would have issued a press release,” said a senior leader in the JD(S).

By directly releasing its list to the media, the Congress has disgraced the institution of the chief minister, said the leader.

Earlier, JD(S) expressed unhappiness with the Congress for unilaterally announcing names of its leaders as chiefs of boards and corporations. JD(S) took severe objection to Congress’ decision to recommend Shidlaghatta MLA V Muniyappa to be appointed as political secretary to the chief minister. Since appointing the political secretary to the chief minister was his prerogative, the Congress should not have announced the leader’s name for the post, he said.