2 Independent Karnataka MLAs set to take oath today

Even as half a dozen Congress leaders are vying for ministerial berths, the party has chosen to only induct the two Independents to ward off any attempts by the BJP to poach the duo.

BENGALURU: Months after they withdrew support to the Congress-JDS coalition government, two Independent MLAs -- R Shankar and H Nagesh — are all set to take oath as cabinet ministers on Friday. Shankar will be making a comeback to the H D Kumaraswamy cabinet after he was dropped during the previous reshuffle leading to his withdrawal of support to the government. 

Even as half a dozen Congress leaders are vying for ministerial berths, the party has chosen to only induct the two Independents to ward off any attempts by the BJP to poach the duo. Ministerial aspirants in the Congress will have to wait longer before a cabinet reshuffle could be effected when they could be considered.

Of the three vacant berths currently, Shankar and Nagesh will be inducted under one quota each of the Congress and the JDS. JDS has another berth vacant which it is unlikely to fill up just yet. Despite party state chief H Vishwanath insisting that a minority face be inducted in the last vacant berths, JDS sources said that the party would like to keep the berth open. “We will have a major reshuffle in a few months. We will then be able to accommodate those who haven’t had the opportunity to be part of the cabinet,” said Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao.

‘Major reshuffle in a few months’

“We will have a major reshuffle in a few months. We will then be able to accommodate leaders who haven’t had the opportunity to be part of the cabinet, including our senior leaders like Ramalinga Reddy, B C Patil, Amaregowda Bayyapur and Ajay Singh,” said Dinesh Gundu Rao, president, Congress state unit. The party has chosen not to induct any MLAs despite dissent fearing more trouble.

“If one MLA is preferred over another, they will naturally ask why one was chosen over the other. It won’t help the situation,” said a Congress source. The JDS, on the other hand, wants to hold on to the last cabinet berth and watch where the situation leads to and then take a call. The oath-taking ceremony that was earlier scheduled to take place on Wednesday had to be postponed following the three-day state mourning announced over Jnanpith awardee writer and actor Girish Karnad’s demise.

Governor Vaju Bhai Vala will administer the oath of office to the newly inducted ministers inside the Raj Bhavan at 1pm on Friday. Another wave of dissent is expected to hit the state Congress following the cabinet expansion but party leaders say that steps will be taken to salvage the situation.

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