''State Cabinet Expansion To Be Done At The Earliest'', Says Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday, November 18 said the much-awaited expansion of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition cabinet in Karnataka would take place "at the earliest".

"We will have to do it (cabinet expansion); we will do it as soon as possible,"  he said.

Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, he referred to the ongoing elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and said the party's state leadership would soon seek Congress President Rahul Gandhi's time to discuss the expansion.

"It (expansion) will happen at the earliest...elections are about to end there (in MP and Rajasthan). In between, we will seek time to discuss and do it," the head of the Congress-JD(S) coalition coordination committee said.

State Congress Chief Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had recently said the cabinet expansion would take place within this month.

The cabinet expansion and appointment of MLAs as heads of boards and corporations that was to take place in October were put on the back burner by the Congress-JD(S) coalition, as the schedule for the November 3 bypolls to two assembly and three parliamentary seats in the state was announced. 

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Some of them, including former Minister M B Patil and senior legislator B C Patil, even met Congress General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Vengopal on Saturday, November 17  to put forward their case.

In the earlier exercise on June 6, Kumaraswamy had inducted 25 ministers, taking the ministry's strength to 27. However, the lone BSP Minister in the coalition cabinet N Mahesh, who was inducted from JD(S), quit his post in October, citing personal reasons, but said he would continue to support the ruling coalition.

There are now six vacant ministerial positions left for the Congress, and two for the JD(S). The decision to expand the cabinet has come amid speculations that some disgruntled Congress MLAs were still being wooed by the BJP, besides reported factionalism within the party.

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With the growing number of aspirants and limited ministerial berths in hand, Congress is preparing a list of MLAs to be appointed as heads to boards and corporations, in an effort to prevent any kind of resentment, party sources said.

Responding to a question about Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara's statement that he was ready to take up the responsibility of Chief Ministership if the high command so desired, Siddaramaiah said the top post was not vacant now.

"Parameshwara has said that if given an opportunity he has the capacity to become Chief Minister, but where is it (CM post) vacant now? In Congress, there are several leaders who have the capacity and eligibility to become Chief Minister.

"He (Parameshwara) has said that he too is eligible to become Chief Minister.

"What is wrong in that? Ultimately it is to be decided by the high command and MLAs," he added while noting that the Congress was in the coalition government with JD(S) due to the fractured verdict in the assembly polls.