Bengaluru: In no mood to give away the prized finance portfolio on a platter to its alliance partner, JD(S), the Congress is using all aces up its sleeve and has cited precedents from 2004-06 and 2006-07 when the Deputy CM in the then coalition government had handled the finance portfolio.
The new finance minister will get the chance to present the Budget in a few months from now, and again in 2019 ahead of the crucial parliament polls and both the Congress and JD(S) are in no mood to let go finance which would help them push through their populist schemes to woo voters.
AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, citing examples from the coalition governments that ruled Karnataka in the past, said that in 2004, when a Congress-JD(S) coalition led by Dharam Singh ruled the state, it was then Deputy CM Siddaramaiah who handled the finance portfolio and not Dharam Singh.
Similarly, when the BJP and JD(S) became coalition partners in 2006, the portfolio went to Deputy CM B.S. Yeddyurappa. though H.D. Kumaraswamy was CM.
Considering these precedents, the finance portfolio should ideally go to Deputy CM Dr G. Parameshwar, he asserted.
