Amidst the announcement of the much-awaited Cabinet expansion of the H.D. Kumaraswamy government, senior Congress leader and former Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar is believed to have got upset over the Energy portfolio, which he held in the previous Congress government, going into the JD(S) kitty.
Soon after the formation of the coalition government on May 23, Mr. Shivakumar had expressed disappointment over the party high command denying him the post of Deputy Chief Minister.
Though the Congress agreed to give up Finance to the JD(S), the party’s efforts to get the Energy portfolio proved futile. Mr. Shivakumar had attended the joint press conference, and he was found sulking, despite Mr. Kumaraswamy’s attempts at camaraderie.
Earlier in the day, speaking with a dash of innuendo, Mr. Shivakumar referred to JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna — who bargained hard to get the Energy portfolio for the JD(S) — as a “big man”, who he could hardly be compared with. Incidentally, Mr. Revanna had the Public Works and Energy portfolios in the Kumaraswamy government in 2006-07.
The stand-off was broken after Congress president Rahul Gandhi intervened and directed the State leaders to give up the Energy portfolio as well to the JD(S), besides Finance, to ensure stability and smooth functioning of the government.
Mr. Shivakumar, who has been widely hailed for single-handedly keeping the Congress-JD(S) flock together after the fractured mandate and preventing defections, is reportedly not happy. Sources said that Mr. Shivakumar is miffed that the Congress high command did not reward him instantly for the work he did for the party. Sources also said that Mr. Shivakumar would not be inducted into the Ministry on Wednesday, and is most likely to be appointed as the State Congress president.
In the sharing of portfolios, JD(S) is seen to have come up trumps having not only bagged the Chief Minister’s post for an entire five-year term, but also the most coveted portfolios of Finance, Public Works, Energy, Excise, Co-operation and Transport.
Announcing various decisions, AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, K.C. Venugopal, said, “We had a few small issues to be settled, including allocation of Finance portfolio. We finally decided to give it up to the JD(S) after Mr. Rahul Gandhi himself directed us to do so.”
