New Delhi, May 26 (). The discussion on the cabinet expansion of the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka entered its second day. Meanwhile, Congress general secretary and state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Friday that several names have been discussed and the swearing-in ceremony will take place on Saturday.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Saturday. He along with state unit chief and deputy CM DK Shivakumar has been holding meetings with senior party leaders for two days to decide on new ministers.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had reached the national capital separately on Tuesday evening. He held a meeting with Surjewala and KC Venugopal in the party’s war room to discuss the names of new ministers.
Siddaramaiah met Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi on the first Friday after the swearing-in ceremony. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present on this occasion. After meeting the Gandhi family, Siddaramaiah met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence here.
Here in the war room of the Congress, the leaders churned once again. Shivkumar also met the Gandhi family after 15 GRG left the war room.
Surjewala while talking to reporters after the meeting said that whatever decision will be taken will be informed by CM Siddaramaiah. He has discussed with the party. Party doesn’t decide. The cabinet is decided by the Chief Minister. Siddaramaiah has discussed various names and we have left it to him to decide who to induct in the cabinet. The high command only discusses various issues in the interest of the party.
And I am told by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that tomorrow other ministers will be sworn in, and thus more details can be given only by him. Meanwhile, after meeting Sonia Gandhi, Shivakumar said that everything is fine.
When asked about the cabinet expansion on Saturday, he said, “I expect the same.” Meanwhile, both Rahul Gandhi and Venugopal reached the Congress president’s residence to discuss the names of new cabinet ministers in Karnataka.
Apart from Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, eight more ministers G. Parmeshwar, K.H. Muniyappa, K.J. George, M.B. Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge, Ramalimga Reddy and B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan was sworn in on Saturday in Bengaluru. However, no portfolio has been allotted to any of them so far.
A party source said the Congress will have to strike a balance in cabinet allocation as it needs to balance the demands of different communities. According to party sources, in the last two days, 20 to 24 names have been discussed for the new cabinet, which includes representatives from every community.
The source said that Ishwar Khandre, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Shivanand Patil, H.K. Patil, SS. Mallikarjuna, Sharanbasappa Darshanapur, Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil, all from the Lingayat community, may be included in the cabinet.
Apart from these, Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, Venkatesh Cheluvarayaswamy and Krishna Byregowda from the Vokkaliga community and Byrathi Suresh from the Kuruba community are also likely to take oath as new ministers in the state cabinet.
According to sources, Rahim Khan is likely to be the only new Muslim minister. Apart from these, Putta Ranga Shetty of Uppara community, Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, K.N. Rajanna’s name was also discussed. Apart from this, Santosh Lad, Madhu Bangarappa, Mankala Vaidya, Shivraj Tangadgi, R.B. Thimmapur, Nagendra and Boseraju are also discussed.
FZ/ANM
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