Being twice CM to Union minister, Kumaraswamy demonstrates political acumen

Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the BJP-led NDA just last year. Since the time of its founding in 1999, the JD(S) has never formed a government on its own in Karnataka, but has been in power twice in coalition with both national parties despite being a junior partner -- for 20 months with the BJP from February 2006 and for 14 months with the Congress after the May 2018 assembly polls. Kumaraswamy was chief minister on both occasions. The son of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has now managed to secure a cabinet berth by allying with the BJP, at a time when his party was fighting the "battle for survival". The 64-year-old Vokkaliga leader has made no secret of his desire to become agriculture minister. By winning the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, the former CM has not only managed to regain the JD(S)'