Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala said that the expansion of the Karnataka Cabinet will take place before the Assembly session. CM DK Shivkumar and Siddaramaiah met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and held preliminary discussions. There are 20 posts vacant in the cabinet.
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday said the party leadership has held preliminary discussions and the expansion of the cabinet in Karnataka will take place before the start of the assembly session.
Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, former CM and Congress Working Committee member Siddaramaiah, KPCC President BK Hariprasad met Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary (Organisation), KC Venugopal in New Delhi.
According to BK Hariprasad, the discussion has been postponed for at least a day as Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge is in Bengaluru.
20 posts vacant in cabinet: Surjewala
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Randeep Surjewala said that 20 posts are vacant in the cabinet, and the post of Assembly Speaker is also vacant. He said that the Congress government will fill as many vacant posts as possible.
Surjewala said, “Today CM DK Shivakumar, former CM and Congress Working Committee member Siddaramaiah, our PCC president BK Hariprasad, and many of our ministers and senior Congress leaders arrived in Delhi. DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have met Rahul ji, and he has also met General Secretary (Organisation), KC Venugopal. The discussions have just started. I can’t give you a specific date right now; all I can say is that these are initial discussions.” “Karnataka cabinet will be expanded very soon.”
The Congress leader further said, “There are 20 posts vacant in the cabinet, and the post of Speaker is also vacant. Let the consultation take place; something can be said only after discussion. The effort will be to fill as many or all the vacant posts as possible. Yes, I have full hope that the formation of the cabinet will be completed before the start of the assembly session.”
The assembly session is likely to be held in July or August.
Lobbying for ministerial post, warning from high command
Meanwhile, on the news of his inclusion in the cabinet, Hariprasad has said that the party high command will take a decision on it. “I don’t know about it. The high command will decide,” he said.
Several MLAs, saints and community leaders lobbied for ministerial berths in the DK Shivakumar-led cabinet; However, the Congress high command has issued a warning asking them to be patient.
After Siddaramaiah’s resignation, the current Shivakumar cabinet has 14 members, including Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara. Priyank Kharge was given the charge of the Home Ministry, while Siddaramaiah’s son Yatindra Siddaramaiah became the Urban Development Minister. (ANI)
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