Why Shivakumar is set to tweak Cabinet amid simmering discontent, absence of woman face

With the monsoon session of the state Legislature slated to begin on August 13 and the Opposition BJP and JD(S) looking to target the Congress over the Cabinet expansion issues, some ministry changes are expected, apart from portfolio allocations, ahead of the session.

“There will be some changes carried out. A woman minister will be inducted soon,” a Congress legislator said.

Cabinet expansion rows

Although the Cabinet formation of all Congress governments is generally followed by discontent among candidates who lose out, the presence of multiple power centres in the party in the state and at the Centre has resulted in lobbying on multiple fronts for ministerial berths.

One of the key factors for the Congress for this exercise has been to ensure that there is representation for the umbrella coalition of castes and communities that have backed the party for decades.

In terms of caste balance, the current 33-member Shivakumar Cabinet is slightly different from the 34-member Siddaramaiah Cabinet, with the key differences being the absence of a woman minister and the enhanced representation of the SC and Muslim groups and the reduced Lingayat presence.

While the name of a first time MLC, Gayathri Shantigowda, featured as the sole woman minister in a list of 20 ministers originally released by the AICC on August 3, she did not take oath amid a controversy over her candidature with Siddaramaiah backing his former cabinet colleague Umashree for the woman’s berth.

Although both Gayathri and Umashree are OBC MLCs, Siddaramaiah is reported to have backed Umashree, who belongs to the Devanga community, on account of her prior experience in administration despite Gayathri belonging to his Kuruba community.

“There will be some changes in the woman candidate for the Cabinet. Umashree is likely to be sworn in,” Congress sources said.

The caste balance in the current Shivakumar Cabinet is seven Lingayats (20%), six Vokkaligas (17%), seven from SCs (20%), three from STs (9%), three from Muslims (9%), one Christian, and probably six from OBC groups (17%) if an OBC woman candidate is inducted.

The caste balance in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet in 2023 was eight Lingayats (23%), six Vokkaligas (17%), six from SCs (17%), two Muslims (6%), three from STs (9%), six from OBC groups (17%), plus one each from the Christian, Brahmin and Jain communities.

In the 2023 Assembly polls, the Congress won 135 of the state’s 224 seats with wins in 37 out of 48 seats (80%) where it fielded Lingayat candidates, 21 of 43 seats (45%) where Vokkaligas were fielded, 10 of 15 seats with Kurubas (65%), and nine of 15 seats (60%) with Muslim candidates.

Out of 36 SC seats, the Congress bagged 21 (60%), while of 15 ST-reserved seats it got 14 (93%).

Caste balance in sync with numbers

According to Congress sources, the caste balance in the recast Cabinet has been done in line with the population share of castes as revealed by the recent state caste survey.

Siddaramaiah is seeking the inclusion of a third Kuruba minister in the form of two-time MLA Basavaraj Shivannavar from the Haveri region, whose name proposed by him was reportedly dropped at the last moment from the AICC list. Shivannavar’s inclusion will take the Kuruba representation in the Cabinet to 9% and that of the OBCs to 20%.

While an initial Cabinet list on August 3 had featured an additional OBC candidate in ex-minister Mankal Vaidya, the Bhatkal MLA from the Mogaveera group, his name was dropped in favor of the powerful Lingayat leader S S Mallikarjun, whose wife and son are also Congress lawmakers.

Siddaramaiah had suggested his picks for the Cabinet after it was sought by the Congress leadership but has subsequently remained silent. “He has been of the opinion that the government must be given a free hand to function and pick ministers of their choice,” a Congress legislator close to him said.

Siddaramaiah’s son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah, who was inducted in the Cabinet when Shivakumar took over as the CM on June 3, has however indicated that a few suggestions made by his father had been rejected by the Congress leadership. “My father recommended Mahadevappa’s name in the list. But, the high command has not considered him. Since they wanted new faces from the SC right community, they decided to go with (PM) Narendra Swamy. But father had recommended Mahadevappa’s name both in the first list and the recent list,” he said.

Shivakumar’s pivot to caste survey

Significantly, Shivakumar has now indicated that he is committed to implementing the findings of a caste survey conducted during Siddaramaiah’s tenure and accepted by him on the eve of his exit as the CM.

“Our government conducted a socio-economic survey, and we are committed to implementing it to deliver social justice,” Shivakumar said on August 7 at a meeting of the Congress OBC panel. The declaration was a change in his stance as he had opposed the caste survey during Siddaramaiah’s tenure on the ground of it being favourable to the OBCs.

“Two-thirds of the ministers in our Cabinet belong to the backward classes, Scheduled Castes/Tribes, and minorities. This is the guidance given to me and Hariprasad (state Congress chief) by our leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge,” Shivakumar told the meeting.

The most recent caste survey report of the State Backward Classes Commission has reported the OBC population to be in the range of 42% instead of the previously assumed 32% and reduced numbers for the dominant Vokkaligas and Lingayats at 15% each. The numbers of Muslims are pegged at 12%, Dalits at 19%, and STs at 9%.

MLAs miss out due to common profiles

Much of the unhappiness among the Congress MLAs on losing out on the ministerial berths stems from the point that the Cabinet is already packed with people from their castes or regions, Congress sources said.

Among the considerations for induction into the Cabinet has reportedly been the youth factor besides the ability of a minister to influence votes in their own communities.

The induction of Ballari Rural MLA and former ST minister B Nagendra, who is accused by the CBI of misappropriation of funds from a ST development board, and ex-minister B Z Zameer Ahmed, who is accused by the Karnataka Lokayukta of accumulating disproportionate wealth, has been ascribed to their “popularity” among their communities and their deep pockets.

Legislators like the six-time Bengaluru MLA and minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet, Dinesh Gundu Rao, a Brahmin and former state Congress chief, and similarly M Krishnappa, a wealthy Vokkaliga Bengaluru MLA for multiple terms, are reported to have lost out on account of the Cabinet already featuring as many as five Bengaluru MLAs.

The Congress has mounted an outreach to the disgruntled MLAs in Bengaluru as they will be key players when civic polls are held in the city next year. The Congress has also reached out to veterans like H K Patil, T B Jayachandra who lost out on account of younger candidates from their Reddy Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities entering the Cabinet.

“We gave representation to almost all districts, and some of those who became ministers last time were not given a chance this time due to the criteria of giving opportunities to others,” state Congress chief B K Hariprasad said.

“They have given opportunities to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Minorities, Christians, Vokkaligas, Lingayats. If there is a government that includes everyone in a democratic system, it is the Congress government,” he said.

“There are only a few leaders in some communities. In some communities, there is a wealth of leaders. It is not possible to appease everyone. Opportunities have been given to under-represented communities,” he said.

“Women have not been given a chance, they should be given a chance. I will discuss it with our leaders,” the state Congress chief added.