The portfolio allocation comes more than a week after the swearing-in of the new ministers and a day before the Assembly and Legislative Council are scheduled to convene. The exercise follows consultations between the state leadership and the Congress high command after the August 3 Cabinet expansion.
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As part of the reshuffle, senior minister Ramalinga Reddy has been moved from Water Resources to Forest, Environment and Ecology, while KH Muniyappa has been assigned the Social Welfare portfolio, a department he had sought.
Health and Family Welfare Minister UT Khader has been given additional charge of Minority Welfare, Haj and Waqf.
Shivakumar has retained some of the important portfolios, including Information, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Town and Country Planning, and oversight of urban local bodies under the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA).
Ballari Rural MLA B Nagendra, who is facing charges in connection with the alleged diversion of funds meant for ST welfare, has been allotted the relatively lighter Planning and Statistics portfolio.The Opposition BJP and JD(S) have stepped up pressure on the Congress government over Nagendra’s induction into the Cabinet, demanding his removal before the Legislature session begins.
Political balancing
The CM has appointed Virajpet MLA AS Ponnanna as his political secretary with Cabinet rank, moving him away from the Deputy Speaker’s post. Bhatkal MLA Mankal Vaidya, whose name was dropped from the ministerial list at the last minute and replaced by SS Mallikarjun, is set to be elected Deputy Speaker.
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The Congress government, which assumed office on June 3, had initially left 20 Cabinet berths vacant and filled 19 of them earlier this month. One ministerial position remains vacant.
The AICC has put off its plans for a minor Cabinet reshuffle until after the monsoon session of the legislature is over.
