Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is all set to form his Ministry on Saturday.
He is likely to induct 22 Ministers in the first instalment, and the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 10.30 a.m. at the Glass House in the Raj Bhavan.
Although initial reports suggested that the ceremony would be held on Friday, it has been postponed as Mr. Siddaramaiah’s consultations with the party high command did not conclude as expected by Thursday evening.
Party sources said that it was important for the sanctity of the occasion to be observed by having it either at the Raj Bhavan or in front of the Vidhana Soudha.
Since metro work is on in front of the Vidhana Soudha, the Raj Bhavan was chosen.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, who announced in Delhi that the oath-taking ceremony would be held on Saturday, is likely to return to Bangalore by Friday morning after a final round of discussions with AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Sources in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee said that the Chief Minister was likely to induct 22 Ministers in the first phase and keep the remaining posts for a later date.
While care had been taken to ensure appropriate representation to senior leaders, the sources said that the Chief Minister had also ensured fair representation to districts.
Probable Ministers
The probable Ministers are H.K. Patil, R.V. Deshpande, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, T.B. Jayachandra, M.H. Ambareesh, Veeranna Mathikatti, B. Ramanath Rai, Ramalinga Reddy, K.R. Ramesh Kumar, R. Roshan Baig, K.J. George, Kagodu Thimmappa, A.B. Maalakaraddy, Basavaraj Rayaraddi, C. Motamma, V. Srinivas Prasad, H.C. Mahadevappa, H.S. Mahadev Prasad, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Prakash Hukkeri, Umashree and Qamar-ul-Islam.
The sources said that D.K. Shivakumar was also likely to make it in the first list. Although there is pressure from various quarters to keep him away from the Ministry, the sources said that he was likely to be inducted as the party was looking towards the Lok Sabha elections next year.
KPCC president G. Parameshwara will either continue as party chief till the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 or is likely to replace Anil Lad in the Rajya Sabha as MP.
Meanwhile, lobbying intensified and aspirants who have been camping in Delhi for the last two days did their best to influence their “godfathers” to make it to the Ministry. While some of them whose names had been finalised returned to the city late on Thursday night, the others continued to stay in Delhi.
