Bengaluru: Saturday could be the big day for all Cabinet hopefuls with the discussion among state Congress leaders and AICC leaders in Delhi over the impending reshuffle of the Siddaramaiah ministry remaining inconclusive on Friday.
Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah is fervently working on his reshuffle plan in a bid to effect a major change and tone up the administration which has been described as lacklustre but he is facing stiff resistance from the ministers likely to be dropped and more so from Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge. The younger lot among party legislators too are clamouring for berths as they know this is their last chance to make their mark and help them win in their constituencies in two years’ time when the Assembly polls will be due.
On Friday, the CM met scores of central leaders including AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and Mr Kharge before reaching 10, Janpath in the afternoon to seek formal approval for the reshuffle. However, during the 15-minute meeting which was attended by AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, party president Sonia Gandhi wanted to know whether he had been able to get all top leaders on board on the rejig. When the CM replied in the negative, Mrs Gandhi reportedly stressed the need for evolving a consensus and adjourned the meeting to Saturday morning.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Digvijay Singh, who played a key role in getting Mr Siddaramaiah an appointment with Mrs Gandhi, trying his best to evolve a consensus and met another general secretary, Oscar Fernandes to clear the obstacles.
The role of Mr Kharge has become crucial in the entire exercise with sources saying the reshuffle is unlikely to happen without the Congress veteran’s stamp of approval.
The Congress president too had a meeting with Mr Kharge in the morning and spoke to him over phone in the evening, said sources who refused to divulge the details.
Mrs Gandhi no doubt, is in a dilemma as she needs Mr Kharge to carry on the battle in parliament and Mr Siddaramaiah too, the last Congress Chief Minister of an important state.
If the rival leaders fail to arrive at an agreement on the composition of the new Cabinet, there is a possibility of the entire exercise being put off till July end with the Congress president set to fly out to the US shortly.
