Even as JD(S)-Congress coalition leaders continued to try to mollify their partymen ahead of the Cabinet expansion on Friday, JD(S) State president A.H. Vishwanath urged his party leaders to accommodate a Muslim face in the Cabinet.
“It is better that a minority leader is accommodated under the JD(S) quota. Party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has also expressed a similar sentiment,” Mr. Vishwanath told presspersons here on Tuesday. He cited the example of a Muslim being made Deputy Chief Minister by the newly sworn in Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
Meeting with Rahul
On Monday, Mr. Deve Gowda met Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The meeting of the two leaders was the first since the coalition in Karnataka, and the UPA at the national level, lost the Lok Sabha polls. The two discussed Cabinet expansion as well as the present political situation in the State.
In an unrelated development, defeated JD(S) candidate from Mandya, K. Nikhil, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, met Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy to congratulate him.