BENGALURU: A delegation of 25-30 senior Congress MLAs led by chief whip in the Assembly Ashok M Pattan on Sunday embarked on a trip to the national capital where they are expected to meet the party high command, and seek cabinet berths during the reshuffle.
The timing of their visit, just after bypolls to Bagalkot and Davanagere South are over and ahead of results on May 4, has evoked curiosity as to whether they are lobbying for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to continue in the top post for the remaining two years. It is being regarded as a precursor to Siddaramaiah’s visit to Delhi as he too is keen to get the nod of the party high command, especially LoP in the LS Rahul Gandhi.
With expectations of a cabinet reshuffle, DCM DK Shivakumar’s camp is also likely to rekindle its demand for a change in the CM’s post. Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, who is ready to throw his hat in the ring, recently stated that Siddaramaiah will continue as CM.
Pattan, known to be a Siddaramaiah loyalist, has been reiterating the same. After holding a meeting of the group of MLAs who have won more than three times, and with the CM’s consent, Pattan led the delegation to Delhi.
They are of the opinion that since the government has been in power for three years, the incumbent ministers should be relieved of their posts to give opportunities for others, in the interest of the party’s prospects in the 2028 assembly polls.
The MLAs’ delegation is likely to stay in Delhi for a couple of days and meet AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday. Since AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge is in Bengaluru, they will wait for him to return to Delhi, sources said.
The senior MLAs who landed in Delhi are TB Jayachandra, AR Krishna Murthy, Beluru Gopalakrishna, Shanthana Goudar, K Shadakshari, Puttaranga Shetty, Raghavendra Hitnal, SN Narayanaswamy, among others. Malavalli MLA PM Narendraswamy backed out, claiming he was busy with his daughter’s wedding, while Magadi MLA HC Balakrishna, a Shivakumar loyalist, also stepped back.
Top brass to decide on cabinet reshuffle: CM
Chikkamagaluru: CM Siddaramaiah reiterated that there was nothing wrong in legislators who are aspiring to become ministers visiting Delhi. He, however, said that the Congress high command will take a final call on the cabinet reshuffle.
“Cabinet rejig is pending... elections to five state assemblies, and the Parliament budget session could have delayed the reshuffle process,” the CM told reporters in NR Pura. Regarding reported anti-party activities by a few party members, the CM stated that his political secretary, Naseer Ahmed, is yet to tender his resignation, but he may do so soon.
On the recent Davanagere South bypoll, Siddaramaiah said that the Congress has not accepted defeat. “We will win for sure. Seeking Naseer’s resignation for alleged anti-party activities has nothing to do with our victory or loss.
MLC Saleem Ahmad had expressed displeasure over anti -party activities of a few in the Davanagere bypoll. But he never said that Congress will lose. Despite anti-party activities by a few, Congress will win,” the CM said.