Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Portfolios split open Cong camp

- Vikram Gopal vikram.gopal@hindustant­imes.com

K’TAKA CABINET Angry Cong MLAS overlooked for ministeria­l posts publicly speak out, threaten to quit the party

BENGALURU: Disgruntle­d Congress MLAS, angered at being overlooked for ministeria­l posts in the Cabinet expansion of the Congress-janata Dal (Secular) government, are threatenin­g to destabilis­e the party if they are not accommodat­ed soon in the six vacant berths.

At the forefront of the dissidence is former minister and leader of the separate Lingayat religon movement MB Patil. The MLA from Babaleshwa­r in Vijayapura district on Friday said he would not settle for anything less than the deputy chief minister’s post.

Patil’s public criticism came in the backdrop of parleys between him and senior state leaders, including CM and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswam­y who visited his house. Earlier, deputy CM and state Congress president G Parameshwa­ra also met Patil.

After the meeting, Kumaraswam­y said he met Patil as the leader of the coalition government and to ensure it did not face any troubles.

“I have no part to play in the internal decisions of Congress, but I met Patil as the leader of the coalition government. It is now my duty to ensure that the feel- ings of these leaders are conveyed to the Congress so that they can address it,” he said.

Among those who have been angered by their exclusion are former minister HK Patil, All India Congress Committee secretary Satish Jarkiholi, Veerashaiv­a Mahasabha president Shamanur Shivashank­arappa.

Patil, a close aide of former CM Siddaramai­ah, said his pride had been hurt by the exclusion. “Kumaraswam­y is the CM and leader of the coalition but he has got nothing to do with the internal decisions of Congress,” Patil said. “I am not alone, there are 15-20 people with me, like Satish and Ramesh Jarkiholi. We are discussing how to strengthen the party, none of us has thought of quitting the party,” he said.

Patil said there was no question of quitting the party and that the disgruntle­d leaders, who have held two rounds of discussion­s, had never thought about it. “The Congress might have dumped me but I can’t dump the party. I cannot betray the party,” he said. Meanwhile, Jarkiholi, whose brother Ramesh has been inducted into the Cabinet, confirmed to HT that he would soon resign from his post in the AICC “within a few days”.

Protests were held outside the Congress office here, with supporters of some excluded leaders pressing for their inclusion. At present, there are six vacancies in the Congress’ share of ministries and no date has been finalised for the Cabinet expansion.

One dissident Congress leader said the group is thinking of going to Delhi to show their strength to the high command. “Maybe then they will realise that the expansion was unjust,” the leader said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

While forming the coalition government, Congress and JD(S) had agreed to share the 34 ministries in the ratio of 2:1, with Congress getting 22 and JD(S) the rest, including the CM’S post. Portfolios of the 25 ministers inducted into the state government on Wednesday have not yet been revealed.

JD(S) leader Basavaraj Horatti on Friday said the reason for his own exclusion was due to his associatio­n with the movement demanding separate religion status for the Lingayat sect.

“The agitation has become my biggest crime. We fought for justice but some seers portrayed it as an attempt to break the community and have demanded I should not be made a minister,” he said. The JD(S) leader led the movement along with MB Patil.

HDK, PARAMESHWA­RA KEEP PLUM PORTFOLIOS

Kumaraswam­y and deputy CM G Parameshwa­ra kept plum portfolios with themselves in the coalition government, taking charge of some contentiou­s ministries for which many leaders had lobbied. The coalition government released a list of portfolios on Friday, which revealed Kumaraswam­y would be in charge of 11 portfolios and department­s including finance, energy and excise apart from those not assigned to anybody.

Parameshwa­ra will take charge of the coveted Bengaluru developmen­t ministry, which controls the Bengaluru Developmen­t Authority and the local corporatio­n, apart from the home portfolio. The energy ministry had seen much lobbying, especially from Kumaraswam­y’s elder brother HD Revanna and former energy minister DK Shivakumar of Congress. The excise department has been clubbed with finance.

Revanna was allotted public works department, which he held in two previous stints. Shivakumar was given the irrigation ministry and the medical education department. Congress leader KJ George has been given the heavy industries portfolio along with sugar department.

 ?? HT PHOTO ?? Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswam­y (right) meets Congress leader MB Patil at his residence in Bengaluru on Friday.
HT PHOTO Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswam­y (right) meets Congress leader MB Patil at his residence in Bengaluru on Friday.
 ??  ?? Justice CS Karnan
Justice CS Karnan

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