New Delhi:
Karnataka Prime Minister Siddaramaiah’s government will have another 24 ministers swearing in on Saturday, the sources said. The names were finalized at the meeting between Mr. Siddaramaiah, his deputy DK Shivakumar and central party leaders in Delhi, the sources said. The Chief Minister will meet Rahul Gandhi on Friday to close the session.
On May 20, Siddaramaiah and State Congress Speaker DK Shivakumar were sworn in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
Eight MLAs, including Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge, were also sworn in along with them for ministerial posts.
However, so far there has been no portfolio allocation, a situation that has drawn derision from the BJP. Congress has responded with a reference to the weeks during the pandemic when the then Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was the only minister in the cabinet.
The preparation of the list of ministers or the assignment of portfolios will be a complicated job for Congress given the need to balance and represent various communities.
The most politically important community in the state, the lingayats, claimed the position of Chief Minister, citing their great contribution to the victory of the Congress.
In the absence of a Lingayat Chief Minister, it is speculated that a portion of the ministerial berths will go to community MLAs.
With general elections scheduled for next year, Congress is also under pressure to show quick results and deliver on the promises it made before the election.
Karnataka sends 28 MPs to the Lok Sabha, making it a major battleground state.
New minister Priyank Kharge made it clear today that the new Congress government intends to review the policies of the previous BJP government and “set things right”, leading to speculation that decisions on the Muslim quota, the ban on Hijab and the law against conversion are due to a Backing down.
“Any bill, executive order or government order or any other bill which is regressive to Karnataka’s economic policies, which does not create employment, which creates disharmony in the state will be reviewed or rejected, if necessary,” he said. to NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Congress won a big victory in Karnataka earlier this month, winning 135 of the state’s 224 seats. The BJP, which ruled the state, won 66 seats and HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular 19.
Congress also increased its vote share from 38.1 percent in 2018 to 42.9 percent. The difference came from JD(S) votes, which fell from 18.3 to 13.3 percent. The BJP has maintained its 36 percent vote share since 2018.