Pramod Madhwaraj comes in place of Vinay Kumar Sorake; dissidence brews within Congress
Gabriel Vaz
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Updated
Bengaluru, Jun 19: In a sweeping and major exercise of restructuring his ministry to tone up the image and performance of the three-year-old Congress government in Karnataka as part of the plans to gear up for the next round of assembly polls two years from now, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sacked as many as 14 ministers and inducted 13 into his council of ministers in Bengaluru on Sunday evening.
This is probably the last major revamp of the Siddaramaiah ministry before the 2018 assembly polls, which is crucial for the ruling Congress party as Karnataka is the last major State under the control of the 130-year-old party after its humiliating defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
(From top L-R): Pramod Madhwaraj, Priyank Kharge, Kagodu Thimappa, Eshwara Khandre, Rudrappa Lamani, S S Mallikarjun, H Y Meti, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Ramesh Kumar, Basavaraj Raya Reddy, Santosh Lad, Tanveer Sait
Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the nine Cabinet rank ministers, including veteran Congress leaders KagoduThimmappa, who had served as the Speaker of the State Assembly, and former Speaker of the Assembly Ramesh Kumar, both of whom have been trenchant critics of the Siddaramaiah government on various issues. There were four junior ministers holding Ministers of State rank, including Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj and Priyank Kharge, son of senior Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge.
Tanveer Sait, Kagodu Thimmappa, Ramesh Kumar, Basavaraj Raya Reddy, H Y Meti, S S Mallikarjun, M R Seetharam, Santosh Lad and Ramesh Jarkiholi were the nine newly inducted Cabinet rank ministers.
Priyank Kharge, Rudrappa Lamani, Eshwar Khandre and Pramod Madhwaraj were sworn in as Ministers of State.
Cine Actor Ramya to be Inducted Soon
The strength of the Siddaramaiah cabinet has now risen to 33, including the Chief Minister, and is one short of the constitutional limit. It is, however, reliably learnt that the vacancy is to be filled by cine actor and former MP Ramya, who hails from Mandya district.
Ramya is likely to be nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council shortly as there are three slots for the nominated category as a prelude to her induction into the ministry shortly. Incidentally, Ms Ramya comes in place of two of the dropped Vokkaliga community ministers Ambarish and KimmaneRatnakar.
Vinay Kumar Sorake, Abhayachandra Jain Out
Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony held in the glasshouse of Raj Bhavan, the Chief Minister dropped 14 Ministers, including two from the coastal region VinaykumarSorake and Abhaychandra Jain.
The 14 Congressmen, who were dropped from the Siddaramaiah ministry, are: Qamarul Islam, Shamanoor Shivashankarappa, VSrinivasa Prasad, M H Ambareesh, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Satish Laxmanarao Jarkiholi, Baburao Chinchansoor, Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi, S R Patil, Manohar H Tahasildhar, K Abhayachandra Jain, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Kimmane Ratnakar and P T Parameshwar Naik.
Sons Get Ministerial Berths on Father's Day
Incidentally, the swearing-in-ceremony was held on Father's Day and ironically S S Mallikarjun, who was sworn in as a Cabinet rank minister, comes in place of his father Shamanoor Shivashankarappa, while the newly inducted minister of state Priyank Kharge is the son of the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge.
Siddaramaiah received the green signal to go ahead with the revamp plan from Congress High Command on Saturday after intense confabulations with party President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, Vice President of the party, following series of consultations with other party bigwigs, including AICC General Secretary and State in charge Digvijay Singh, Mallikarjuna Kharge, Oscar Fernandes and Dr G Parameshwara, State Home Minister and KPCC President.
In this major revamp of the Siddaramaiah Cabinet, balancing the caste and regional equations was a crucial factor.
New Assembly Speaker, Council Chairman
With Kagodu Thimmapa quitting as Speaker of the State Assembly ahead of his joining the Cabinet, the post is likely to be given to K B Koliwad or C S Nadagouda Appaji as both could not make it into the Cabinet.
One of the dropped ministers, S R Patil is tipped to become the Chairman of the State Legislative Council in view of the increased strength of the Congress party in the Upper House if it manages to get the support of some independents. The Congress party’s strength in the Council will be further bolstered after the nomination of three persons, including Ramya. The present Council chairman D H Shanakaramurthy, who belongs to the BJP, would have to quit if the Congress party feels confident of winning the post.
Revolt, Dissidence in Congress Party
However, the exercise has already resulted in a bout of dissidence from those dropped from the ministry and the denial of cabinet berths to some of the strong contenders.
While some of the dropped ministers like senior leader from the Dalit community V Srinivasa Prasad, who held the Revenue portfolio, has already lambasted the Chief Minister hailing from his own Mysore district. Two other dropped ministers Qamarul Islam and Baburao Chinchansur, staunch loyalists of Mallikarjuna Kharge and hail from Gulbarga district, have also raised the banner of revolt.
Many of the strong aspirants and strong contenders for ministerial berths like B B Chimmanakatti, M Krishnappa, S T Somashekar, Priya Krishna Byrathi Suresh and R V Devaraju are up in arms against the Chief Minister for not considering them despite serving as legislators for long while first-timers like Pramod Madharaj and Priyank Kharge have been chosen. Political grapevine has it that at least 8 to 10 have threatened to resign from the assembly and quit the party. Whether they carry out the threat or are mollified remains to be seen. However, it is evident that the Ministry restructuring exercise has already resulted in a bout of dissidence within the Congress party.
Supporters of Krishnappa and Ambarish in Bengaluru and Mandya respectively as also those of Qamarul Islam and BaburaoChinchanchur in Gulbarga and B BChimmanakatti have already staged protests.
DKS to Become KPCC President
Meanwhile, the present Energy Minister D K Shivakumar is tipped to replace Dr G Parameshwara as the next KPCC president as the party is believed to be keen on appointing a young, energetic and dynamic person to lead the party into the coming Assembly polls. Shivakumar, however, is expected to continue as minister and hold the party post.
One of the most visible face in the Siddaramaiah cabinet Dinesh Gundu Rao, who had to make way for his Brahmin community leader Ramesh Kumar, is likely to be drafted for party work along with some of leaders from the Lingayat community like C S Nadagouda Appaji and S R Patil in case they are not accommodated in other posts.
List of Sacked Ministers
