Karnataka Congress ministry: 28 names come down to 8 as CM, Dy CM battle it out

Sources said four of the ministers who were sworn in today — Khan, K J George, M B Patil and Satish Jarkiholi — are seen as loyalists of Siddaramaiah while Ramalinga Reddy is considered close to Shivakumar. The other three — G Parameshwara, K H Muniyappa and Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge — are said to be the choice of the high command.

Congress leaders said the eight ministers showcase the rainbow coalition of castes and communities that helped the Congress win the polls. Another round of swearing in for around 20 ministers will be held in two to three days, Priyank said.

Discussions over the names went on till late into the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar presenting their lists and holding several round of meetings with AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal and AICC in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala. Mallikarjun Kharge too was part of the talks.

Both sides had objections to some of the names suggested by the other. Shivakumar was said to be opposed to Khan and H C Mahadevappa, who are seen as close associates of Siddaramaiah, as also Rao and Gowda, whom Siddaramaiah was keen on including. Eventually, only Khan made it to Saturday’s list.

Shivakumar, in turn, wanted U T Khader and N A Haris, but Siddaramaiah rooted for Khan as the Muslim face. Siddaramaiah also opposed the inclusion of H K Patil, currently Maharashtra in-charge of the party.

As per some sources, Siddaramaiah left in the middle of the talks, sometime after midnight, to catch a flight back, but eventually returned as the talks went on.

With differences persisting, the leadership finally decided that seven veteran leaders will take oath on Saturday, along with one younger leader in the form of Priyank, while discussions would continue over other names. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar flew back to Bengaluru in the wee hours.

In the ministry sworn in on Saturday, while Siddaramaiah, 75, is an OBC Kuruba, Shivakumar, 61, is a Vokkaliga. Besides, there are three Dalits (Parameshwara, Muniyappa, Priyank); one Lingayat (M B Patil); one Scheduled Tribe community member (Jarkiholi); one Muslim (Khan); one Christian (George); and one member of the Reddy community (Ramalinga Reddy), who are considered equivalent to the Vokkaligas.

There is no woman in the first batch on account of dual claims from communities to which the three Congress women MLAs considered belong. They include Roopakala Shashidhar, whose father Muniyappa was eventually picked to represent the SC Left; Lakshmi Hebbalkar, a Panchamasali Lingayat from Belagavi Rural, who lost out to senior leader M B Patil, but is expected to be included in the second round; and the Congress’s sole Muslim woman MLA, Kaneez Fathima, who had to make way for Khan, a popular Muslim leader and close associate of Siddaramaiah.

Among those who expressed his displeasure at being left out was veteran eight-time MLA R V Deshpande, a Brahmin. Siddaramaiah indicated he would be the pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly next week for oath-taking.

Interestingly, hours before the swearing-in, a letter emerged, purportedly written by Venugopal to Siddaramaiah, listing the eight leaders to be sworn in. It said “the Congress president has approved the list of cabinet ministers” and “you are hereby requested that this decision is executed as per provisions of appropriate law”.

Citing the letter, the BJP took a dig at Siddaramaiah, saying he does not even enjoy the freedom of picking ministers of his choice in his Cabinet.

Posting the letter on his Twitter handle, Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel said: “Siddaramaiah who believes in socialist ideology became a puppet and rubber stamp Chief Minister of the Congress high command from day one.”