Karnataka minister Meti's exit raises hopes for Revanna

BENGALURU: A vacancy caused by the sudden and ignominious exit of excise minister H.Y. Meti could be filled through induction of senior Congress legislator and former minister, H.M. Revanna, but an immediate expansion of CM Siddaramaiah’s cabinet seems unlikely.

Mr Revanna, a fellow Kuruba like Mr Meti, could be ideal choice because of factors such as the MLC being an original Congressman and known to be close to the CM.

A senior leader said: “Mr Revanna certainly fits the bill, but who has the guts to convince the high command to allow an expansion of the cabinet at this juncture? Last time when the Chief Minister reshuffled his cabinet, he had convinced the high command to give him a free hand to pick his team because he wanted to have a team that could work to bring the party back to power in 2018. However, within four months, two episodes involving  Mr Tanveer Sait and Mr Meti have deprived Mr Siddaramaiah of bargaining power with party high command.”

In the run up to the cabinet reshuffle effected four months back, Mr Revanna had in fact lobbied hard to get into the cabinet. Mr Siddaramaiah, however, picked Mr Meti on two counts: first the community factor,  and the other, representation to the district. Mr Revanna who virtually belongs to Bengaluru city would find it difficult even to date as the city has more representation in the cabinet, sources in the party told DC.