Bengaluru/New Delhi: Congress minsiterial aspirants suffered another disappointment Wednesday after the party high command deferred final discussions on the long-awaited cabinet expansion to next week, with senior party funationaries tied up in the Parliament session and protests against the NDA govt over the NEET issue.Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, former CM Siddaramaiah and KPCC president B K Hariprasad returned to Bengaluru after their scheduled meeting with the Congress leadership in Delhi was postponed.Party insiders said the broad contours of the expansion have been finalised, with Rahul Gandhi expected to approve a proposal from state brass to appoint PWD minister Satish Jarkiholi, a Scheduled Tribe, and industries minister M B Patil, a Lingayat, as deputy chief ministers alongside incumbent G Parameshwara.The meeting, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was first deferred to Wednesday before being postponed again as Rahul Gandhi led the Congress protest demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET controversy. Senior Congress functionaries remained engaged in Parliament and the nationwide agitation.Before elaving Delhi, Shivakumar said the Karnataka delegation decided to return after Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress functionaries were detained by Delhi Police during the protest. “Once they are released and the situation normalises, we will come back,” he said.Last week, the state functionaries held preliminary discussions with the high command. However, the final list of ministers could not be cleared after AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge left the meeting midway for urgent work in Bengaluru.The Karnataka govt currently has 14 ministers against the sanctioned strength of 34, leaving 20 vacancies. The leadership is also weighing whether to fill all the posts immediately or retain some vacancies until after the gram panchayat, taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections.The exercise will also decide the appointment of a new assembly Speaker, his deputy following U T Khader’s induction as health minister, besides filling the vacant post of deputy chairman of the Legislative Council and appointing chief whips for both Houses.With nearly 50 MLAs in the race for cabinet berths, the Congress leadership faces the task of balancing caste, regional and factional equations before taking a final call. Several aspirants continue to camp in Delhi awaiting the high command’s decision.
