Cabinet rejig in six months: Dinesh Gundurao

Bengaluru: Amidst rumours of his resignation over his “flop-show” as  president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Dinesh Gundurao made an appearance on Saturday and announced that a cabinet reshuffle was on the cards after six or eight months  and several senior leaders would be accommodated in this exercise.

Speaking to reporters at the KPCC office here, Mr Rao said the Cabinet reshuffle would take place in about six to eight months  and several seniors would be accommodated. “The ministers' performances will be evaluated (during the reshuffle),” he added.  

The KPCC chief's  announcement comes amidst reports of disappointment among several party seniors at being left out of the Cabinet during Friday's expansion, which saw two independents, R. Shankar and H. Nagesh being inducted into the ministry, in an apparent move to give stability to the 13-month old  JD(S)-Congress coalition government.

Several senior Congress leaders like H. K. Patil, B. C. Patil and Dr K. Sudhakar, and JD(S) senior leader, A. H. Vishwanath and industrialist, B. M. Farooq had skipped Friday's swearing-in ceremony, reportedly as a mark of protest.

Mr Rao's exit from the KPCC media group Saturday morning and his absence at the cabinet expansion at the Raj Bhavan on Friday had sparked rumours that he was upset at being criticised by his party leaders and had resigned.

But  speaking to a local TV channel, he scotched rumours that he was miffed with the party.

“I am a loyal soldier of the party,  doing my job diligently. I have not resigned. This is mere speculation by a section of media,” he snapped, adding  that he had not written any letter to the party high command as was being reported, and his continuation as the party's state unit chief was left to the Congress leadership to decide.