The wait for the expansion of the Karnataka Ministry is over with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah deciding to accommodate four legislators, including Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President G. Parameshwara and Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa, in the Cabinet.
Sources in the Congress said that the Chief Minister agreed to fill four vacant ministerial berths following a meeting with All-India Congress Committee (AICC) President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President of Rahul Gandhi, along with party general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Digvijaya Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Berth to be kept vacant
In all probability, Minister for IT and BT S.R. Patil is expected to take over as the new head of KPCC in the wake of Dr. Parameshwara joining the Ministry. The decision to appoint Mr. Patil as KPCC chief is being viewed as a move to appease the dominant community of Lingayats, besides according prominence to the North Karnataka region.
Mr. Siddaramaiah is likely to keep the berth vacated by Mr. Patil vacant as a political strategy. Sources said that Mr. Siddaramaiah has agreed to reshuffle the Cabinet after the elections to the Upper House and the zilla and taluk panchayats to avoid negative impact in the form of rebellion by those who fail to make it to the Ministry.
Meanwhile, Dr. Parameshwara’s demand for the post of Deputy Chief Minister is said to have been turned down with the Central leaders making it clear that the party was not interested in creating another ‘power centre’ in the State.
Camping in New Delhi
Mr. Siddaramaiah and Dr. Parameshwara have been camping in the national capital for the past two days to take the issue of Cabinet expansion to a logical end. They have been also holding consultations with the high command on the strategy to prepare the party for the upcoming elections to the Legislative Council, taluk and zilla panchayats.
Several influential legislators, who are eying ministerial berths, are also camping in New Delhi to present their case before the Central leaders.
According to sources, besides Dr. Parameshwara and Mr. Thimmappa, A. Manju (Arkalgud MLA) and Vinay Kulkarni (Dharwad MLA) are likely to be inducted into the Cabinet.
