Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy inducted eight new ministers, all from the Congress, into his cabinet and dropped two ministers—R Shankar (forest) and Ramesh Jarkiholi (municipal administration) from the cabinet on Saturday. With this, the Congress has finally filled up its six vacancies in the state cabinet.
After the cabinet formation in June, when 25 ministers (15 of the Congress and 10 of JD(S)) were sworn-in as per the power sharing agreement between the coalition partners, the cabinet expansion has taken six months as the JD(S)-Congress coalition government feared revolt by those denied a cabinet berth.
On October 11, the lone BSP MLA from Kollegal N. Mahesh, who was the primary and secondary education minister, resigned from the cabinet citing personal reasons, leaving the JD(S) with two vacancies. The party, however, chose not to fill them.
The Congress has tried to balance the caste and regional equations during the expansion, say sources. Incidentally, seven out of the eight new ministers are from north Karnataka.
While Yamakanamaradi MLA and Valmiki strongman Satish Jarkiholi has replaced his brother Ramesh Jarkiholi, Kundagol MLA C.S. Shivalli has replaced fellow Kuruba and sitting minister Shankar. Shivalli a close aide of Siddaramaiah.
Former minister and Babaleshwar MLA M.B. Patil was finally inducted into the cabinet as the demand for adequate representation to north Karnataka region has been gaining prominence. Patil had lead the Lingayat movement which is said to have backfired on the Congress party's poll prospects.
Former minister and Hoovina Hadagali MLA P.T. Parameshwar Naik from Bellary, who was dropped from the Siddaramaiah cabinet after his tiff with DySP Anupama Shenoy has once again found a place in the state cabinet.
MLC R.B. Timmapur, who was a minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, became the obvious choice for the SC(left) quota though he had a strong contender in KGF MLA Roopa Shashidhar, daughter of Kolarr MP K. H. Muniyappa. Roopa, meanwhile, has been appointed as parliamentary secretary.
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Sandur MLA E. Tukaram, a close aide of Lad brothers and Siddaramaiah, and Bidar MLA Rahim Khan, who has the support of Mallikarjun Kharge, are now part of the Kumaraswamy cabinet.
Hoskote MLA M.T.B. Nagaraj, who too is part of the Siddaramaiah camp, has made it to the cabinet, even as many senior MLAs were ignored.
AICC president Rahul Gandhi is said to have given the go-ahead for the cabinet expansion in the wake of growing unrest among the Congress MLAs.
Senior leaders Ramalinga Reddy, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, H.K. Patil, Roshan Baig, S.R. Patil, and Tanveer Sait have once again missed the bus. However, Gadag MLA H.K. Patil has been appointed as the campaign committee chairman.
As expected, protests erupted in different parts of the state as supporters of the MLAs denied a cabinet berth took to the streets. Haveri, Bidar and Ballari districts witnessed protests from the supporters of MLAs B.C. Patil, Ajay Singh, Nagendra and Bhima Naik.
A few hours before the swearing-in, KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao warned dissidents against any act of indiscipline. "Gross misconduct will not be tolerated," said Rao.
Said Hirekerur MLA B.C Patil, "If the party can give a berth to SC left and right sects, why not for all Lingayat sects? Sadar Lingayat to which I belong to, has no representation. I trusted Siddaramaiah, but he has let me down. Our sect is present in 45 constituencies across 10 districts."
Veteran leader and Davanagere MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa too has warned the party against neglecting Lingayats.
Sowmya Reddy, a first-time MLA and daughter of former home minister Ramalinga Reddy was vocal in her criticism of the party. "My father is a seven-time MLA and four-time minister and contributed to the growth of Bengaluru and the party. It is not true that only the young are chosen; many seniors have been given a cabinet berth but not my father. There has been no criteria. It was only a pick and choose exercise, " said Sowmya.
To pacify the disgruntled leaders, the Congress has also recommended 19 legislators to be appointed to the boards and corporations, and nine others as parliamentary secretaries. Ajay Singh, son of former chief minister late Dharam Singh, is appointed special representative in Delhi.