Supporters of dropped Ministers and ministerial aspirants have unleashed violent protests in different parts of Karnataka against a major Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, in which 13 Ministers were inducted in the three-year-old Siddaramaiah government.
After dropping 14 Ministers from the Ministry, nine ministers of Cabinet rank and four ministers of State were inducted at the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan with Governor Vajubhai Vala administering the oath of office and secrecy.
Two former speakers Kagodu Thimmappa and Ramesh Kumar, and senior leaders Tanveer Sait, Basavaraj Raya Reddy, and H Y Meti were among those inducted into the Cabinet.
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The swearing-in was witnessed by Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, family members and relatives of the Ministers and supporters.
The exercise was undertaken to put the party on a sound footing two years ahead of the Assembly elections, which is the only major state where Congress is ruling after being recently ejected out of power in Kerala and Assam.
With some Congress members have expressed their reservation over the induction of some junior leaders in the Ministry, supporters of dropped ministers such as V Srinivas Prasad, M H Ambareesh, Shivaraj Tangadagi and MLA M Krishnappa took to the streets in protest for dropping them from the Cabinet.
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Mr Ambareesh loyalists blocked the Mysuru -Bengaluru road near Mandya, holding up traffic. Supporters of Vijyanagar MLA M Krishnappa disrupted movement of vehicles on Mysuru-Bengaluru state highway and in his constituency in the City.
Supporters of MLA Rajashekar Patil called for a bandh in Humnabad in Bidar district after their leader did not inducted in the Ministry. They also took out a motorcycle rally in the town forcing shops to shut down. Supporters of Ministerial aspirants such as Mallikayya Guttedar, Deputy Speaker Shivashankara Reddy, damaged vehicles, including Government-owned buses, in Kalaburagi, Gauribidanur, respectively.
Ministers who were seen as non-performers or were hit by some controversy or the other were sacked, according to party sources.
The Cabinet revamp was undertaken to inject “more dynamic members” into the Ministry. The Congress government in Karnataka completed three years in office on May 13, 2016.