Ending days of speculation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday picked senior member of the Cabinet Ramalinga Reddy for the crucial Home portfolio as the State heads for elections in less than a year. Mr. Reddy has been a non-controversial member of the Ministry and held the Transport portfolio.
The name of Forest Minister Ramanath Rai was earlier doing the rounds to head Home and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had threatened an agitation if he was picked. A controversial video grab in which he allegedly told the Dakshina Kannada police not to spare RSS ideologue Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, known for his controversial speeches, had led to a political row.
The Cabinet expansion on Friday also saw the induction of CM’s loyalist H.M. Revanna, Dalit leader R.B. Thimmapur and Geetha Mahadeva Prasad, first-time MLA, who won the hard fought Gundlupet Assembly bypoll recently. KPCC president G. Parameshwara was conspicuous by his absence at the swearing-in ceremony.
