AICC general secretary RS Surjewala and the CM have personally reached out to some senior MLAs to defuse tensions, but the outreach has not worked in some cases. Shivakumar is now considering a minor reshuffle of the Cabinet, including dropping two or three ministers and inducting senior legislators in their place, besides filling the lone vacant Cabinet berth.
The exercise is expected to be finalised by Monday evening, ahead of the monsoon session of the Karnataka legislature beginning August 13. Senior leader Siddaramaiah’s minister-son, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, may become the leader of the legislative council in a double-reward.
Portfolio Pressure
The CM has not yet allocated portfolios to the newly inducted ministers amid intense lobbying by some of them for departments of their choice. He may also reshuffle portfolios of some ministers who took oath with him on June 3 to accommodate their preferences.
The post-expansion discontent has added to the pressure on the Congress leadership to strike a balance between seniority, regional representation and competing factional interests. Some large districts like Kolar-Chikkaballapur are without a minister while some smaller ones have two members.
The Cabinet expansion already kicked up controversy after the Congress modified the list hours before the August 3 swearing-in ceremony. Bhatkal MLA Mankala Vaidya was replaced by Davanagere North MLA SS Mallikarjun, while MLC Gayathri Shanthe Gowda, who was the only woman on the approved list, was asked not to take oath.
“Such a last-minute modification of the list has never happened in Congress history,” veteran Congress MLA KN Rajanna said on Sunday.
All Men Team
The absence of women from the expanded Shivakumar Cabinet, despite Rahul Gandhi’s reported push for greater representation for women and younger legislators, has also attracted attention within and outside the party.
The AICC is now considering one woman as part of the proposed changes. MLAs Roopa Shashidhar and Laxmi Hebbalkar, and MLC Gayathri Shanthe Gowda are among the names being discussed.
The Congress cleared 20 new ministers on August 3, but the subsequent changes left the CM coming under increased pressure from veterans.
