Little over two months after the Congress central leaders patted themselves on their own backs for effecting a smooth leadership change in Karnataka, the party now faces intense internal turmoil after the cabinet expansion. Strategic miscalculations have left many of its lawmakers discontented, forcing the party to consider corrective measures. The party has landed itself in such a predicament that any quick-fix solution could be worse than the problem.
The party’s top leadership deliberated on the ministry expansion for long, and held several rounds of consultations with Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah. Perhaps, after sifting through several lists, it was decided to induct 20 legislators into the ministry. However, only 19 took oath. The plan to induct new faces appears to be in sync with party leader Rahul Gandhi’s broader roadmap of a transition within the party.
The plan and its execution seemed wobbly from the start. The list was changed hours before the oath-taking ceremony. Despite Congress’s claims of rolling out the guarantee schemes in the state to empower women and its stand on the women’s reservation issue, Shivakumar’s cabinet is without a woman minister.
Many districts are without representation. Even North Karnataka legislators from the Kuruba and minority communities have been left out. Two ministers from the Kuruba community are from South Karnataka. Of the four ministers from the minority community — three Muslims and one Christian — three are from Bengaluru City and one from coastal Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah’s conspicuous absence at the ministers’ oath-taking ceremony at Lok Bhavan exposed the fault lines in the party. It also gave a subtle yet clear indication of how the Congress’s internal politics is likely to play out in the days ahead.
The Congress workers’ protests at several places in the state, including outside the party head office in Bengaluru, mass resignations by local leaders in districts, and an outpouring of anger by several legislators, have all put the party in hot water.
The CM’s initial remarks that “resignations (of those threatening to quit) will be accepted within a few minutes” showed that the party had again failed to read the situation. It was only when things appeared to be getting out of hand – the growing number of disgruntled legislators, and them planning a future course of action – that the CM, State Congress president BK Hariprasad and AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala plunged into damage-control mode.
During their meetings with the disgruntled MLAs, the leaders are said to have admitted to mistakes being committed and that they would shortly take corrective measures, while the aspirants made it clear that they would settle for nothing less than a cabinet berth. As of now, only one cabinet berth is vacant.
It is unclear what corrective measures the party would take at this stage. There is a buzz that a few ministers may be asked to resign to make way for some of those excluded. Some leaders may be accommodated in party positions and some in boards and corporations to assuage their feelings.
By all means, the party has found itself in a catch-22 situation. No minister is happy to resign, and such a move will amount to the party admitting that it has erred. The impression that local leaders can compel the high command to change its decision will further vitiate the situation.
Also, B Nagendra’s induction has caused a degree of unease within the party. As Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister in Siddaramaiah’s cabinet, he had resigned in June 2024 after multi-crore financial irregularities in the state-owned Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited surfaced. A case had been registered against him, and he was also arrested.
While the CM defended the decision, a three-term Congress MLA questioned what the yardstick was for inducting leaders into the cabinet, as those who went to jail and those who allegedly worked against the party have been made ministers. Nagendra’s induction has also handed a potent issue to the opposition during the upcoming legislative session from August 13.
The Congress, downplaying the developments, has taken to oft-repeated remarks that a party with nearly 140 legislators is bound to face such turbulence, as only a limited number of leaders can be accommodated in the cabinet. However, if the ruling party continues to be pulled into a whirlwind of internal politics, it will do no good for its plans for the 2028 assembly polls or for the state administration.
The challenge is to overcome party politics and deliver good governance. Unlike Siddaramaiah’s cabinet, the current team at the helm of affairs lacks the luxury of time; their performance would be tested in corporation polls in the Greater Bengaluru Authority and local bodies polls, provided they are held, and in the 2028 assembly polls.
For now, the CM faces another immediate challenge, that of allocating portfolios to the new ministers, and preparing his new team for the legislative session starting next week.