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After high command reservations, delay, Karnataka Cabinet expansion this week
Although Congress leaders from Karnataka travelled to Delhi in the second week of June with names of Cabinet berth aspirants, the high command sought revisions because the list mostly contained senior legislators.
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Cabinet expansion would be completed this week. (File Photo)
Karnataka’s D K Shivakumar government is set to have a full-fledged Cabinet this week, almost two months after the first set of ministers was sworn in. After the Congress’s NEET protest plans delayed a Cabinet expansion expected last week, leaders of the party’s state unit are again in New Delhi to finalise the list of new ministers.
“The process of Cabinet expansion will be completed by the end of this week,” Chief Minister Shivakumar said before leaving for the national capital on Monday.
Shivakumar, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, and state Congress president B K Hariprasad are expected to hold talks with the high command to finalise the list of ministers.
Former minister Tanveer Sait appeared confident of a Cabinet berth. “New ministers are likely to be sworn in on Wednesday or Thursday,” the MLA said.
Thirteen ministers were sworn in after Shivakumar took the oath as chief minister on June 3, replacing Siddaramaiah.
Although Congress leaders from Karnataka travelled to Delhi in the second week of June with names of Cabinet berth aspirants, the high command sought revisions because the list mostly contained senior legislators. The party leadership wanted more young faces in the Cabinet.
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Shivakumar and others travelled to Delhi again last Monday to finalise the list of Cabinet aspirants. But Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s “unplanned” protest in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence and subsequent developments related to the Cockroach Janta Party’s NEET protests delayed the discussion.
Speculation suggests that almost three-fourths of the remaining 20 Cabinet berths will be filled with fresh faces. Many first-time legislators are also expected to get Cabinet berths. In the 2023 polls, 28 Congress candidates were elected as MLAs for the first time.
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