When the lotus blooms in Karnataka, the woman with the paddy bundle on her head will be missing.
Yes, the Janata Dal-Secular, the Bharatiya Janata Party's is the coalition partner, will not swear in any of its ministers and would wait for the floor test instead. At a meeting of the senior JD-S leaders late on Sunday night, it was decided that all ministers from the JD-S will be sworn in only after B S Yeddyurappa passes the floor test.
The party also decided that the name of the deputy chief minister too will be announced after the floor test. The JD-S said it does not want its ministers to be sworn in in batches and would complete the entire formality in one go. Senior JD-S leader Meerajuddin Patel said the meeting also discussed the appointment of MLAs to the various boards and corporations in the state. There is a consensus view that a good representation should be given to the minorities, he said.
JD-S insiders said the name of the deputy chief minister had already been finalised and they were awaiting Gowda's clearance for the same.
Gowda, it is learnt, wants his son H D Revanna to don the mantle. However, the problem is that all the MLAs are backing Kumaraswamy for the post. Kumaraswamy was even appointed leader of the legislature party unanimously on Sunday.
With the JD-S deciding not to swear in any of its ministers, the question being asked is whether there are certain differences cropping in between the two parties. The JD-S rubbished this rumour and said it is the BJP's moment of glory and that is why the JD-S is letting their allies bask in it. All JD-S MLAs will be present and this is proof enough to show that there is no rift, a JD-S leader said.
Meanwhile, it is get set go for the BJP. Yeddyurappa will take oath as the first BJP CM in south India and will be watched and cheered by the likes of L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Yeshwanth Sinha and Anant Kumar. Elaborate security arrangements have been made by the Bangalore police who are expecting a crowd of nearly 70,000 people.