CM, Parameshwara to meet Sonia today

September 02, 2014 10:57 pm | Updated 10:57 pm IST - Bangalore

A week after the co-ordination committee met, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara will hold talks on the Cabinet expansion with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday.

While interacting with the media at the Janata Darshan here on Tuesday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would visit Delhi to take up the issue with the party high command.

He is expected to meet Ms. Gandhi with a list of candidates to be included in the Cabinet and appointments to boards and corporations.

With just four vacancies to be filled, several legislators rushed to Delhi to lobby for ministerial berths. Senior leader and Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayaraddi has appealed to Mr. Siddaramaiah and the party high command not to only consider the ‘caste factor’ while giving Cabinet berths. Mr. Rayareddi said the five Ministers from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region had “insignificant portfolios”.

K.B. Koliwad, senior Congress MLA, who has been demanding a ministerial berth since the government was formed last year, said he would not accept anything short of a Cabinet Minister’s post. Mr. Koliwadi, who was camping in Delhi, said 40 legislators had submitted a petition to Mr. Siddaramaiah seeking a Cabinet reshuffle, which, however, has been ruled out by the Chief Minister.

With many MLAs aspiring to become Ministers, the Chief Minister is exploring the possibilities of appointing a couple of legislators as his political secretaries or parliamentary secretaries. “Although there is no proposal to appoint a political secretary to the Chief Minister as of now, we will think about it if there is a need,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

The KPCC chief is expected to bargain hard with the high command to get a plum portfolio in the Cabinet, sources told The Hindu .

Expelled

Meanwhile, the State Youth Congress has expelled four office-bearers of the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency unit for anti-party activities. They are: Abhilash K.M, Manjunath J.V., Naveen Dayali, and Honnurali S.M.

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