Word from top: Expand Cabinet

Bangalore: Is Chief Minister Siddar­amaiah under pressure from top Congress leaders to expand his cabinet?

Sources in the party said a top leader asked Siddaramaiah whether he had made up his mind on adding more ministers to his team during the Chief Minister’s visit to New Delhi on Friday, giving room to speculation about an imminent expansion of the ministry.  

The sources said during the quarterly review meeting chaired by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi in the last week of November, and later at the co-ordination committee meeting chaired by general secretary Digvijay Singh, Siddaramaiah was asked to consider an expansion of his cabinet to accommodate senior legislators including former ministers D.K. Shivakumar and R. Roshan Baig. The Chief Minister, however, sought time to think about the issue.

The same issue cropped up during Siddara­maiah’s meeting with top leaders on Friday evening, too. They asked the Chief Minister whether he had taken a decision on expansion of his team. “Our leaders will never say you do it. Afterall, he is the Chief Minister of a state.

They politely reminded him of the expansion issue again which means that the Chief Minister has to take a call very soon. Now, Sidda­ramaiah cannot drag his feet on the expansion of his cabinet,” the sources added.

The CM’s camp followers were maintaining till date that he would not expand the cabinet as it would trigger dissent by unsuccessful aspirants ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

But with top leaders reminding him about the issue, Siddaramaiah seems likely to induct two or three ministers against five vacancies. This would enable him to win over central leaders as well as keep other aspirants quiet and work for the party during the general elections, the sources added.