JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy talking to the media in New Delhi.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy met UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday even as both parties have started bargaining behind the scenes on portfolios in the new Karnataka assembly.

On Sunday, Kumaraswamy, who will take oath as Karnataka’s 25th chief minister on Wednesday, dismissed reports that JD(S) is working out a power-sharing formula with the Congress to head the government for 30 months each.

After the May 12 elections delivered a fractured mandate, BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa had formed the government, but resigned on Saturday as chief minister without facing a trust vote as he fell short of the required number of seats.

According to sources, there is a proposal to have two deputy chief ministers to strike a balance between the two parties. Congress’s G. Parameshwara is frontrunner for the deputy chief minister’s post.

Kumaraswamy is scheduled to take oath as chief minister on May 23 and the floor test is expected to happen within 24 hours. Both Congress and JDS legislators will remain confined to their hotels till the floor test.

Some members of the legislative assembly will be sworn in as ministers along with Kumaraswamy on Wednesday, the sources said.

Many regional party leaders including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

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