Congress and Janta Dal Secular (JDS) will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together, party leader KC Venugopal said in a press conference on Friday. Flanked with JD(S) chief and newly sworn in Chief Minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy, Venugopal announced the new cabinet allocation for the state assembly. The announcement came a day after Congress handed over the crucial finance ministry to the regional party. The home department and the Bengaluru city development department will be held by the Congress. “We (Congress-JDS) have come to a conclusion regarding cabinet expansion and portfolio allocation. JDS will be holding the finance portfolio. Everything is settled,” said KC Venugopal reaffirming that the two partners will form a coalition coordination and monitoring committee that will meet once every month.
