Congress top brass feels Cabinet rejig heat
Sources said former CM Siddaramaiah is likely to bat for Mr Patil's induction in an effort to provide representation to Bagalkot district.
Hyderabad: Aspirants for ministerial berths are making a beeline to KPCC office to meet state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao and other senior leaders besides calling on top leaders at their residence notwithstanding the fact that the top brass has maintained complete silence on induction of new faces into the coalition
The long awaited cabinet expansion, evidently to placate senior leaders who are maintaining a low profile immediately after formation of the coalition government, could take place before commencement of the winter session of legislature in Belagavi on December 10. Many former ministers R Ramalinga Reddy, H. K .Patil, M. B. Patil, R. Roshan Baig, Satish Jarkiholi and S. R. Patil are jockeying for a place in the cabinet. Sources in Congress said the party is likely to consider Mr Ramalinga Reddy and Mr S. R. Patil for ministerial posts besides accommodating legislators from districts that have no representation in the cabinet. Mr Reddy's induction would help the party in three LS constituencies in Bengaluru, all represented by BJP leaders.
Sources said former CM Siddaramaiah is likely to bat for Mr Patil's induction in an effort to provide representation to Bagalkot district. Mr Patil, a Lingayat leader, from north Karnataka, had played a key role in ensuring Mr Siddaramaiah's victory in Badami Assembly constituency. The party is likely to consider Bhadravati MLA B. K. Sangamesh, the lone Congress MLA from Shivamogga, and Challakere MLA Raghu Murthy. Though the number of ministerial aspirants is high, the party hopes to placate some of them by appointing them as heads of boards and corporations, with these appointments coinciding with expansion of the cabinet.
Initially, former minister M. B. Patil had led a group of party MLAs and threatened to raise a banner of revolt for not making it to the ministry, but the tension was defused with CM H. D. Kumaraswamy meeting him. Mr Patil was subsequently summoned to Delhi by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and told to work for the party.