Ahead of Shivakumar’s swearing-in as CM, Siddaramaiah appointed CWC member
10 ministers, including Yathindra, Priyank, likely to take oath today
An installation with portrait of Karnataka CM-designate D K Shivakumar, in Bengaluru on Tuesday. (PTI) A day before D K Shivakumar’s swearing-in as Karnataka Chief Minister on June 3, his predecessor Siddaramaiah was named a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) – the highest decision-making body of the party — on Tuesday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Siddaramaiah as a member of the CWC with immediate effect, said a statement from the Congress.
The top party leadership on Tuesday held day-long deliberations with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar on giving the final shape to the new Cabinet in the state.
Karnataka is set to witness the oath-taking ceremony of the 34th Chief Minister, D K Shivakumar, 64, and the first batch of around 10 ministers, including Siddaramaiah’s son Siddaramaiah, 45, an MLC, on Wednesday.
The oath-taking ceremony will be held with minimal fanfare at the state Lok Bhavan with a crowd of around 2,000 in attendance.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be present at the ceremony along with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
The probable list of 10 ministers who can take oath with Shivakumar includes several seniors from the Siddaramaiah Cabinet and two young faces — Priyank Kharge, the son of Mallikarjun Kharge, and Krishna Byregowda.
The Congress is also expected to choose between veteran K H Muniyappa and his daughter Roopakala Shashidhar, who is a fresh ministerial aspirant, and Yathindra Siddaramaiah as its youth choices, sources in the state government said. The choice of senior ministers is expected to include M B Patil, Eshwar Khandre — both from the dominant Lingayat community — G Parameshwara, a Dalit, Ramalinga Reddy, a Vokkaliga, Satish Jarkiholi from an ST community and K J George, a Christian. The Muslim choice for the Cabinet is likely to be the incumbent Speaker and former minister U T Khader.
The Cabinet formation in the first round will be an exercise in balancing the Congress’s caste equations in Karnataka, sources said.
The OBC face to replace Siddaramaiah is likely to be his son Yathindra; the Dalit face is likely to be Priyank Kharge.
Among the ministers from the Siddaramaiah government who could face setbacks are Shivaraj Tangadagi, Mankal Vaidya, Byrathi Suresh and Zameer Ahmed Khan among others.
The new Karnataka Cabinet formation exercise could also see the appointment of deputy chief ministers and a new president for the state Congress to replace incumbent Shivakumar.
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