Bangalore: A Congress-Janata Dal Secular (JD-S) coalition Government would assume office in Karnataka today (May 28, 2004), ending a two-week long political uncertainty created by a fractured verdict in the Assembly polls.

As curtains fell on hard bargaining over power sharing between the JD-S and Congress in Delhi yesterday (May 27, 2004), 68-year old Dharam Singh will assume the office as Chief Minister heading the first-ever coalition Government in the State.

Singh arrived this morning by the first flight from Delhi and would be sworn along with JD-S Karnataka unit president Siddaramiah, who would be the Deputy Chief Minister under the formula worked out between the two parties.

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The swearing-in-ceremony is slated for afternoon, Raj Bhavan sources said.

The power-sharing agreement itself was reached after much haggling but the JD-S finally relented to the "Maharashtra model", with the Congress as a bigger partner getting the Chief Ministership and leaving the deputy's post to the junior partner.

The deal was struck late last night after a meeting between JD-S president and former Prime Minister H D Devegowda and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the presence of senior leaders from both sides.

Siddaramaiah had been insisting on Chief Minister's post till the last minute but yielded ground after much persuasion by senior leaders.

In the Assembly polls, the Congress was voted out of power and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party with 79 seats. Losing nearly half the number of seats it held in the dissolved house, the Congress secured 65 and JD-S 58.