Siddaramaiah forms ‘war cabinet’ to fight next polls

Tries to strike a balance between the young and the old by inducting seniors and juniors as Ministers

By embarking on a major Cabinet reshuffle, probably the last before the next Assembly elections, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has apparently formed a “war cabinet” to fight the next elections scheduled in 2018.

The Chief Minister has tried to strike a balance between the young and the old by inducting senior legislators Kagodu Thimmappa and K.R. Ramesh Kumar, both of whom have been critics of the Siddaramaiah government, and four junior Ministers holding Minister of State rank — including Pramod Madhwaraj, Udupi MLA, and Priyank Kharge, son of senior Congress leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge.

The size of the Siddaramaiah Cabinet has now increased to 33, including the Chief Minister, and is one short of the Constitutional limit.

While the Chief Minister has successfully provided representation to dominant castes such as Lingayats and Dalits in the new exercise, there is no representation to the Vokkaliga community.

Some claimed that Ramya, actor and former MP, is likely to be nominated to the Legislative Council soon and she would be inducted into the Ministry.

Ms. Ramya is likely to come in place of two of the dropped Vokkaliga Ministers M.H. Ambareesh and Kimmane Ratnakar.

Three Ministers belonging to the Lingayat community — Eshwar Khandre, S.S. Mallikarjun, and Basavaraj Rayaraddi — have been inducted into the Cabinet. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, the Chief Minister dropped 14 Ministers, including two from the coastal region — Vinay Kumar Sorake and Abhayachandra Jain. There is no representation in the Ministry for Yadgir, Raichur, Ballari, Chikkamagaluru, Chickballapur, Mandya, and Kodagu districts. The new Cabinet also has two interesting swaps. While Shamanur Shivashankarappa was dropped and his son Mr. Mallikarjun inducted, Satish Jarkiholi was dropped and his brother Ramesh Jarkiholi was chosen.

New Speaker, Chairman

With Kagodu Thimmappa joining the Ministry, senior leader K.B. Koliwad is likely to be appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

One of the dropped Ministers S.R. Patil is tipped to become the Chairman of the State Legislative Council in view of the increased strength of the ruling party in the Upper House, if it manages to get the support of some Independents.

The Congress’ strength in the Council would be increased further after the nomination of three persons. The incumbent Council Chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy is from the Bharatiya Janata Party.