BENGALURU: In a curious twist to Karnataka’s already-prolonged cabinet formation saga, portfolio allocation now appears tied to the lunar calendar.
Sources say the much-awaited distribution of portfolios will happen only after 3pm on Wednesday, once the effects of amavasye - the new moon - have passed.
To accommodate this, the cabinet meeting has been pushed from Wednesday to Thursday.
Whether this is genuine astrological caution or simply a convenient excuse to delay the process further is the subject of much political speculation.
None of Karnataka’s major parties - Congress, BJP, or JDS - is a stranger to invoking auspicious timing for major decisions.
But there is a more practical complication, political analysts point out. The impact on starred questions in the Assembly, which have to be answered by specific ministers holding the portfolios. The session is beginning on Thursday.
If portfolios are handed out only after Wednesday midnight, incoming ministers would have just a few hours to prepare their responses to subjects they could be encountering for the first time.
“Which minister can prepare for the session in a few hours,” a political analyst asked. The analyst, however, offered a silver lining in the Assembly’s own calendar. Thursday, the first day of the session, is set aside for condolence references and will not have any question and answer session, and Friday’s proceedings typically wind down by afternoon to let legislators - many with long journeys to far-flung constituencies - head home for the weekend.
With the Assembly customarily not sitting on Saturday and Sunday, new ministers would, in effect, have a few days before substantive business resumes.
The lunar delay, in other words, may be less disruptive than it first appears.
The episode also fits a broader pattern under this Congress 2.0 government. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is known to be personally and deeply religious, with faith reposed in the Kaadusiddeshwara Mutt at Nonavinkere. Has previously invoked the name of Ajjayya, the mutt’s late pontiff, in public remarks and in his oath taking both as MLA and Chief Minister.
This is not the first time such considerations have shaped government timelines - there was reportedly some hesitation around expanding the cabinet during the inauspicious Ashada month as well.