Karnataka: Siddaramaiah, D K Sivakumar Knock On Delhi High Command's Door As Both Camps Intensify Lobbying For Cabinet Berths

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar are both in New Delhi to seek the approval of Congress's top leadership for the cabinet expansion plan and allocation of ministerial portfolios.

While Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were sworn in along with eight other senior legislators as ministers on 20 May, the portfolios have still not been allocated.

The cabinet expansion is expected to be a tightrope walk for the party high command as Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are lobbying hard for the inclusion of their supporters. The party also hopes to ensure adequate representation across castes, communities and districts.

Local media reports say at least 50 Congress legislators are nursing ministerial ambitions. Several senior leaders, including Lakshmi Hebbalkar and Laxman Savadi, are also in Delhi, staking their claim for ministerial berths.

Shivakumar had reportedly objected to including Krishna Byre Gowda, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Zameer Ahmed Khan, H C Mahadevappa and M B Patil in the first list of ministers who took the oath with the Chief Minister.

However, the party high command managed to persuade him and relent on Zameer Ahmed Khan and Patil.

Siddaramaiah is said to have shot down a suggestion from Shivakumar to include Shanthinagar legislator N A Harris in the cabinet. Harris is now regarded as a close supporter of the Deputy Chief Minister.

Siddaramaiah also reportedly made a strong case against including senior leader B K Hariprasad, a long-term favourite of the party high command but with little clout in local politics.

The sanctioned strength of the Karnataka Cabinet is 34, including the Chief Minister.

Among the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, Dr Sharanaprakasha Patil (Sedam), Laxman Savadi (Athani), Laxmi Hebbalkar (Belagavi Rural), Eshwar Khandre (Bhalki), Shivananda Patil (Basavana Bagevadi), Shamanuru Shivashankarappa (Davangere), Vinay Kulkarni (Dharwad), and Basavaraj Rayareddy (Yelburga) are among probables who could make it to the cabinet.

The inclusion of Lakshmi Hebbalkar, a close associate of Shivakumar, is seen as a foregone conclusion.

Siddaramaiah is also likely to seek the inclusion of Byrathi Suresh and Raghavendra Hitnal, both legislators from the Kuruba community.

Dr Ajay Singh (Jewargi), son of former chief minister Dharam Singh, is also set to make the grade. Priyank Kharge, son of the AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, was among the eight ministers sworn in on 20 May.

H K Patil, a senior leader from Gadag and R V Deshpande, who was reelected from Haliyal in Uttar Kannada district, are also in contention. Patil was the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister in the previous Siddaramaiah government.

Sira MLA T B Jayachandra, Narasimharaja MLA Tanveer Sait, Kanakagiri MLA Shivaraj Tangadagi are also said to be aspirants for Cabinet posts.

Santosh Lad (Kalghatgi), K N Rajanna (Madhuguri), B Nagendra (Bellary) and E Tukaram (Sandur) are also in the reckoning.

Several claimants who missed figuring in the first list are upset over their non-inclusion in the list of ministers who made the grade on 20 May. Dinesh Gundu Rao and H C Mahadevappa have gone public expressing their disappointment.