BENGALURU: With AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge returning to New Delhi, the much-awaited expansion of the DK Shivkumar cabinet has gained momentum. If all goes well, the new ministers could take the oath on Wednesday, highly placed sources told The New Sunday Express. There, however, is no clarity as yet whether all 20 vacancies will be filled or a couple of them will be kept vacant anticipating potential dissidence after the expansion.
“The Congress high command can no longer defer the expansion exercise as there is a lot of pressure from the legislators, mainly to address the prevailing drought in the state,” informed sources added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar called on Kharge in Bengaluru on Saturday and accompanied him to Kempegowda International Airport.
When Shivakumar, his predecessor Siddaramaiah, and KPCC president BK Hariprasad held talks with the Congress top brass, including LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in New Delhi, Kharge was in Bengaluru.
According to party insiders, Kharge has been favouring new faces such as Raichur North MLA Basanagouda Daddal, Jewargi MLA Dr Ajay Singh, son of former CM late N Dharam Singh, Kalaburagi North MLA Kaneez Fatima, AR Krishnamurthy, MLC Manjunath Bhandary from Dakshina Kannada, and MLC A Vasanthkumar from Raichur.
Meanwhile, Shivakumar has been pushing the names of former Deputy CM and Athani MLA Laxman Savadi, Anekal MLA Shivanna, Hoskote MLA Sharath Bachegowda, Gubbi MLA SR Srinivas, Arsikere MLA KM Shivalinge Gowda, Haliyal MLA RV Deshpande, Narasimharaja MLA Tanvir Sait, Hanagal MLA Srinivas Mane, and MLC Dr Arathi Krishna.
If Magadi MLA HC Balakrishna and Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad are not made ministers, they are likely to be appointed as the CM’s political secretaries, sources added.
Meanwhile, former CM Siddaramaiah has been pushing the names of T Narasipur MLA Dr HC Mahadevappa, Ballari Rural MLA B Nagendra, Kanakagiri MLA Shivaraj Tangadagi, Malavalli MLA PM Narendraswamy, Kalghatgi MLA Santosh Lad, Gandhinagar MLA
Dinesh Gundu Rao, Yelburga MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy, Hosadurga MLA BG Govindappa, Ramdurga MLA Ashok M Pattan, Chamarajanagar MLA C Puttarangashetty, and Virajpet MLA AS Ponnanna.
Also, MLAs SN Narayanaswamy (Bangarpet), Vijayanand Kashappanavar (Hungund), Appaji CS Nadagouda (Muddebihal), and Laxmi Hebbalkar (Belagavi Rural) are strong contenders. Former ministers Dr MC Sudhakar and TB Jayachandra are pinning their hopes on the high command to consider their track record and make them ministers.
Meanwhile, KPCC president BK Hariprasad himself has emerged as a frontrunner for a cabinet berth besides proposing the names of some of his choices. But the high command has gathered information on its own from sources and also a survey conducted by the party’s election strategist, Sunil Kanugol. According to Congress insiders, the party may consider the winnability of legislators in the run-up to the 2028 Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, Kharge is likely to hold talks with Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries (organisation) KC Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala to arrive at a decision.
On Monday, Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, and Hariprasad are likely to be called to Delhi for a final round of talks. The high command may announce the list of new ministers by Tuesday evening, sources informed TNSE.
Senior Congress leader and Aland MLA BR Patil may be made the Assembly speaker, sources added.
Deputy CM meets Kharge
Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara also paid a courtesy call to Kharge along with Shivakumar.
“I had a cordial meeting with Kharge. During the meeting, we discussed various important matters, including
the current political developments in the state, administrative issues, and matters relating to the strengthening of the party organization,” the minister posted on the social media platform ‘X’.