Karnataka: Protest Erupts As Cabinet Expansion Leaves Many Aspirants Miffed, Puttarangashetty Refuses Deputy Speaker Post

Upset over being denied a cabinet berth, senior Congress leader C Puttarangashetty, whose name has been proposed by the party high command as the Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, has refused to accept the post.

Puttarangashetty, who defeated the former Minister and BJP leader V. Somanna in the Chamarajanagar constituency by over 7000 votes, was a surprise exclusion from the list of 24 who made it to the cabinet.

Puttarangashetty served as Minister for Backward Classes Welfare in the short-lived Congress-Janata Dal(S) coalition government headed by H.D Kumaraswamy.

A week after assuming power, the Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah carried out the cabinet expansion by inducting 24 new members as ministers on Saturday (May 27).

"I won't accept the Deputy Speaker post, my supporters and voters have asked me not to accept it, stating that I may not be accessible for them. So they don't want me to accept it, so I will not accept it," Puttarangashetty informed the media today (May 28).

A close confidant of Siddaramaiah, Puttarangashetty hails from the Uppara community, one of the most backward class groups mainly concentrated in the Chamarajanagar district.

Puttarangashetty, who wrested the Chamarajanagar seat from Kannada Chalevali Vatal Paksha leader Vatal Nagaraj in the 2008 state assembly election, was reelected in 2013, 2018 and 2023.

Members of the Uppara community staged a protest in Chamarajanagar, opposing the non-inclusion of Puttarangashetty in the cabinet.

Noting that he represents the Uppara community and was aspiring to be a Minister, Puttarangashetty said that if he accepts the responsibility of the Deputy Speaker, he cannot be amidst his people, and it will be difficult for him to function.

"I have conveyed this to Siddaramaiah (Chief Minister) too, but he insisted that I should accept it, but I had told him that I will ask my people and decide…..it will be difficult for me to function in the constituency and I may lose link with the people of the segment as I may stay away from it for long," he added.

Puttarangashetty claimed he was assured a Ministerial position and attributed his Delhi visit to the call he received from high command.

"But on reaching Bengaluru, I got to know that I have not made it to the Ministry. I don't know what the reason is, Siddaramaiah can explain," he said, adding that his supporters, who were upset, staged a protest and requested him to function just as an MLA.

Disappointment with non-inclusion

Dejected supporters of several legislators who could not make it to the cabinet raised slogans outside the Governor's residence, where the 24 ministers took the oath.

Apart from Bengaluru, protests were held in Sira in Tumakuru, Mysuru, Haveri, Kodagu and various other places, with many disgruntled legislators and their supporters voicing their discontent.

According to a local media report, several prominent legislators, including T.B. Jayachandra, Rudrappa Lamani, Ajay Singh, M. Krishnappa, Basavaraj Rayareddy, K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, are upset at not being included.

Jayachandra, a senior party legislator and former minister, said he would meet AICC president M. Mallikarjun Kharge and former AICC president Rahul Gandhi and explain to them "injustice" meted out the Vokkaliga community in the Cabinet expansion.

Several supporters of Jayachandra staged a demonstration outside CM Siddaramaiah's house, alleging that a "grave injustice" has been meted out to the Kunchitiga community as no representation was given to them.

Anguished supporters of Rudrappa Lamani, a prominent Banjara community leader who won from the Haveri assembly seat, gathered outside the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office in Bengaluru in protest, demanding that the leader be appointed as a minister.

"Our banjara community leader Rudrappa Lamani's name was on the list till last night, but today we saw that his name was not there. If our leader does not get the Ministerial post, we will protest against this because we gave our 75 per cent vote to Congress in the election, so there should be at least one leader from our community," said one of the supporters.

In Mysuru, supporters of Tanveer Sait, who has been elected from the Narasimharaja constituency for a sixth successive time, staged a protest against his exclusion.

Supporters of father-son duo Layout Krishnappa and Priya Krishna also staged a protest near Raj Bhavan opposing the non-inclusion of their leaders in the cabinet. Krishnappa and Priya Krishna were elected from Vijaynagar and Govindrajnagar in Bengaluru city, respectively.

At least two MLCs, B.K. Hariprasad and Saleem Ahmed, who were expecting to find a place in the cabinet, are reportedly upset over their inclusion.

Hariprasad, a long-term favourite of the Congress high command, missed out as his inclusion faced stiff resistance from CM Siddaramaiah who managed to secure a berth for Madhu Bangarappa. Both Hariprasad and Bangarapaa also belong to the Idiga community.

"The chief minister has allocated ministerial berths according to his own wish. There was a practice of inducting Council members into the cabinet. Siddaramaiah has changed that practice now," Hariprasad said.

Hungund MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar, who was widely expected to be made a minister as a reward for his role in the Panchamasali Lingayat agitation, was also upset at this exclusion.

Panchamasali Samaj had organised a rally in Bagalkot demanding a Cabinet berth for their community leader Kashappanavar.

"I was expecting to be inducted into Siddaramaiah's cabinet. People from the constituency and my community people had hope that I will become a minister. I am hopeful of getting a ministerial berth in the future," Kashappanavar said in Bengaluru.

Last week, All India Panchamasali Lingayat Mahasabha, headed by Kashappanavar, unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that the newly-elected Congress government in Karnataka induct at least five Panchamasali leaders into the cabinet.

In a resolution passed during the meeting, the Mahasabha demanded that five Panchamasali legislators, including Kashappanavar, Hubli-Dharwad Rural MLA Vinay Kulkarni and Belgaum Rural MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar, must be accommodated as Cabinet ministers.

Only Hebbalkar made it into the cabinet.

Two prominent defectors from BJP - former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar- also did not make it in to the cabinet.