Bengaluru: A day after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy won the vote of confidence in the floor of the Assembly, Congress leaders from the State left for New Delhi yesterday to discuss Cabinet formation and allocation of portfolios with the Party High Command.
With too many leaders aspiring for Ministerial berths, the Congress High Command is likely to layout guidelines, based on which Ministers will be selected, keeping in mind caste and regional equations.
Led by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddharamaiah, Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC President Dr. G. Parameshwara, Campaign Committee Chairperson D.K. Shivakumar and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, held discussions with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi on Saturday.
The Congress State Unit is said to be not entirely satisfied with candidates shortlisted and leaders want to ensure that caste and regional representation are considered. Parleys between the coalition partners on Cabinet expansion began soon after Kumaraswamy won the trust vote on Friday. Another round of discussions took place at a private hotel on Saturday between the CM and AICC Gen. Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal, Siddharamaiah and Dr. Parameshwara.
Prior to this, several Congress MLAs including K.J. George, M. Krishnappa, B.C. Patil and MLC S.R. Patil met at Siddharamaiah’s residence.
Amidst all these developments, CM Kumaraswamy dismissed reports about any confusion over Cabinet formation.
Stating that the Cabinet formation will take place in a couple of days after Congress leaders return from New Delhi, HDK said that the Cabinet formation will be done in a systematic manner.
Meanwhile, in another development, Kumaraswamy who was expected to meet Rahul Gandhi on Sunday morning to sort out the issue of Cabinet formation, re-scheduled his visit to Delhi with Rahul Gandhi scheduled to leave for USA tonight, it is learnt.
Kumaraswamy will fly to Delhi tonight and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday.
The probable list of Legislators from the Congress who may make it into the Cabinet include D.K. Shivakumar, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, Priyank Kharge, Roopa Sashidhar, R.V. Deshpande, B.C. Patil, B. Nagendra, Satish Jarkiholi, S.R. Patil, M.B. Patil, M.T.B. Nagaraj, H.K. Patil, U.T. Khader, Ramalingareddy, K.J. George, Roshan Baig, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Ramesh Jarkiholi.
From the JD(S) side, the names include senior MLC Basavaraj Horatti, MLAs A.H. Vishwanath, G.T. Devegowda, C.S. Puttaraju, Bandeppa Kashempur, Venkat Rao, Nadagowda, N. Mahesh and H.D. Revanna.
This post was published on May 27, 2018 6:43 pm