Coalition govt on brink, but CM on file-clearing spree!

Bengaluru: With the future of the JD(S)-Congress coalition looking pretty grim and the numbers in the assembly stacked against him, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy,  who is set to move a trust vote on Thursday, is reportedly on a signature spree approving files and  getting orders issued for the decisions announced earlier in the state budget.

The assembly is yet to give its approval to the state budget but Mr Kumaraswamy as finance minister, has already signed the file to give effect to the Auradkar committee report which had suggested a 30 per cent hike in the salaries of the state police force. The 12.5 per cent hike which the government has announced, will burden the state exchequer to the tune of over 630 crores.

Similarly, the proposal for formation of the Karnataka Brahmana Development Corporation, was accepted in principle with the appointment of its first chairman, T.C. Ananthasubbaraya from Belur in Hassan district. Interestingly, even while appointing a chairman for the Brahmana Development Corporation, the Kumaraswamy government has ensured that the choice is someone from Hassan, the home district of JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda!

Sources in the government said the strategy of the chief minister is to sign important files pertaining to budget proposals or take populist decisions which would go down well with the public so that in future, he can take credit if the next government decides to implement his decisions.