BENGALURU: AICC General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is trying to placate those Congress MLAs upset over not being inducted into the Shivakumar cabinet, is likely to come out with a formula to pacify them after holding consultations with the party top brass.
According to Congress insiders, Surjewala was forced to disclose the names of leaders from the state that had been sent to the party high command and explain why several MLAs missed out on ministerial berths.
Also, the disgruntled MLAs are likely to be offered positions in both the party organisation (at state and national levels) and boards and corporations.
Furthermore, several AHINDA MLAs, including former minister Dr HC Mahadevappa, feel that they were let down by former chief minister Siddaramaiah.
But Siddaramaiah’s son and Urban Development Minister Dr Yathindra categorically denied this claim, saying that Mahadevappa’s name topped his father’s list.
Meanwhile, Mahadevappa visited Delhi on Thursday and is likely to meet Central Congress leaders. Six-time MLA Appaji CS Nadagouda is also likely to meet top brass leaders as he is upset that his loyalty to the party did not pay off.
Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who is also in Delhi, is learnt to be lobbying for the social welfare portfolio, sources added. Former ministers Mankal Vaidya, RB Timmapur, NS Boseraju and Rahim Khan are among those who are unhappy over being left out of the cabinet. Aland MLA BR Patil, considered a close associate of Siddaramaiah, is also believed to be disappointed.
Meanwhile, some of the disgruntled MLAs have planned to meet over dinner on August 13 when the monsoon session of the joint legislature commences, sources said. “We will expect adequate grants to our Assembly constituencies so that we will be in a comfortable position to face the 2028 Assembly polls,” a Congress MLA told The New Indian Express.
Meanwhile, supporters of MLAs Raghavendra Hitnal in Koppal, Basavaraj Shivannanavar in Byadgi, SN Narayanaswamy in Bangarapet and Ramesh Bandisidde Gowda in Srirangapatna protested on Thursday.
Hitnal, who hails from the Kuruba community, is reportedly upset after Siddaramaiah, who also hails from the same community, backed Shivannanavar, a party insider said. Siddaramaiah strongly backed the candidature of Basavaraja Rayaraddi. When Rayaraddi paid his maiden visit to Koppal after the expansion, Congress workers did not give him a grand reception.
The inclusion of Chikkamagaluru MLC AV Gayathri Shanthe Gowda, a Kuruba leader, in the list of probable ministers before her name was dropped at the last minute is being attributed to the influence of senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. According to sources, Singhvi has served as legal counsel for both Gayathri, who won a legal battle against BJP leader Pranesh to retain her MLC seat, and Shivakumar.
Now, it is interesting to see how the high command will placate the disgruntled MLAs. According to sources, Vijayanagara MLA Krishnappa may be offered the post of BDA chairman, though he clarified to Surjewala that he will not settle for any post less than a ministerial berth. There were also talks that the high command had tried, but in vain, to convince Food and Civil supplies minister K H Muniyappa to accommodate his daughter and KGF MLA Roopakala Shashidhar as a minister so that the issue of lack of representation to Kolar and Chikkaballapura districts and woman would be resolved. But Muniyappa suggested that he would complete his tenure as minister and make his daughter minister if the party returns to power in 2028, a source said.
Senior MLA TB Jayachandra, lone MLA from Kunchitiga-Vokkaliga community, had to settle for the state’s Delhi representative post. The community’s religious head Sri Nanjavadhuta met him on Thursday and held a discussion. Surjewala also met former Law Minister H.K. Patil in an attempt to pacify him. Attention is now focused on who will be appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Commission, a post considered prestigious. There is also speculation over the lone vacant cabinet berth, which is likely to go to a woman MLA.