Astrology determines cabinet formation

HASSAN: JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, known for consulting soothsayers and astrologers before making a political move, has put off the cabinet formation of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government to Wednesday, which was to be held on Monday.

While former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who is known to approach these matters rationally, and some other leaders opposed the move, they had to give in to the wish of the father of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. General Secretary of All India Congress Committee K C Venugopal, who is in charge of Karnataka, had fixed the swearing-in ceremony for Monday after consultations with party scion Rahul Gandhi, president of Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi and senior party leader Ahmed Patel.
According to sources, the Congress high command has directed leaders of the party in Karnataka to coordinate “smoothly” with JD(S) leaders, particularly Deve Gowda, and “neglect” minor issues till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Deve Gowda, on the other hand, is busy fixing an auspicious time for the swearing-in, entry, exit timings and direction in which the stage should be set. He is said to also be determining the position ministers should take while taking oath. “This is being done after consulting an astrologer,” the reliable source told The New Indian Express.

“Having been entrusted with the responsibility, H D Revanna, a favourite of Deve Gowda, is in consultation with astrologers in Holenarasipur and Sringeri. He has discussed and fixed with them the auspicious time for the ceremony. Revanna also visited Srirangam in Tamil Nadu with horoscopes of probable ministers of his party,” he said.