Kumaraswamy meets Mayawati, role of regional parties in 2019 polls discussed

JD(S) leader and Karnataka's chief minister-elect HD Kumaraswamy today met BSP chief Mayawati here and discussed the role of regional parties in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Sources in the BSP said the two leaders also discussed the shape of the Congress-JD(S) cabinet and the possibility of sole BSP MLA N Mahesh getting a berth. The BSP and the JD(S) have a pre-poll alliance in the state.

During their over a half-an-hour meeting, Kumaraswamy also invited Mayawati for the oath-taking ceremony of the new council of ministers.

The sources said the discussions between the two largely revolved around the role regional parties could play to stop the BJP from returning to power in the next Lok Sabha polls.

Kumaraswamy, who will take over as chief minister of Karnataka on May 23, is in the national capital to meet the Congress leadership and work out modalities of government formation in the southern state.