Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Jun 14: Soon after becoming a minister, Ranebennur MLA R Shankar has merged his one-member Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) with the Congress on Friday.

The Congress party and its State leaders, especially JD(S)-Congress coalition panel chairman and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has set a pre-condition to Shankar that he should merge his party with Congress as part of a precautionary strategy to prevent him from jumping ship again.

Shankar has given a letter to former Chief Minister and Congress Legislature Party leader stating that he has merged the KPJP with the Congress. 

Shankar was inducted into the Cabinet under the Congress quota. He is expected to take primary membership of the party soon and thereby become a full-time member of the Congress.

Along with Shankar, another Independent MLA from Mulbagal H Nagesh was also inducted into the H D Kumaraswamy ministry from the JD(S) quota.

With the Ministry size fixed at 34, today’s expansion leaves only one Cabinet post vacant in the coalition government.

The Congress and the JD(S) had signed a pact to have 22 and 12 Cabinet berths, respectively.

The Congress has filled its quota of 22 Ministers while the JD(S) has 11.