Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar are expected to leave for New Delhi this week to discuss the Karnataka Cabinet expansion with the Congress high command.
There are 24 vacancies in the council of ministers, and the high command is finding it difficult to fill the slots as there are more than 60 aspirants.
Not just the aspirants, the camps led by Siddaramaiah and DKS are making it difficult for the high command. Both the leaders are bargaining hard for a giant slice of the berths. The high command must also ensure proper representation to all sections.
34 Lingayat MLAs but only 1 inducted so far
The high command will have to look at the Lingayat angle too. The Congress has 34 Lingayat MLAs, but only one has been inducted so far. When it comes to Vokkaligas, barring Shivakumar, no representation has been given to the community that has 24 MLAs. Siddaramaiah is the only one from OBCs, while there are 15 MLAs from the community, including 9 Kurubas. Three ministers from SCs and one from STs are in the cabinet, while Congress has 37 Dalit MLAs.
No woman representation
Meanwhile, sources said initially, DKS had demanded the finance portfolio, but Sidda is likely to retain it since the high command wants to leverage his experience to implement the party’s guarantee schemes without hurting the economy. DKS is now reportedly seeking water resources and Bengaluru development departments.
None of the inducted ministers have so far been allotted portfolios. Sidda is expected to allocate portfolios after the cabinet expansion. They say 18-20 new ministers will be inducted while at least four berths will be kept vacant. The new ministers are likely to be sworn in on May 27 or 28.
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