BENGALURU: Chief Minister-designate DK Shivakumar and caretaker CM Siddaramaiah will be in Delhi on Monday to finalise the list of council of ministers with the Congress high command, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Though the power transition went off smoothly, the two leaders are likely to butt heads over the induction of their loyalists into the cabinet and prove their sway over the high command.
They are expected to present their own list of legislators to take oath along with Shivakumar at Lok Bhavan’s glass house at 4.05 pm on Wednesday.
Though it is not confirmed yet, some 15-20 are likely to be sworn in and veterans who were part of the Siddaramaiah cabinet are keeping their fingers crossed. They include Dr G Parameshwara, HK Patil, KH Muniyappa, MB Patil, Eshwar Khandre, Ramalinga Reddy, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda, Santhosh Lad, Zameer Ahmed Khan, K Venkatesh, Shivaraj Tangadagi and Dr HC Mahadevappa.
The names of a few new faces, including AS Ponnanna, Saleem Ahmed, Speaker UT Khader, NA Haris, BK Hariprasad, TB Jayachandra, Basavaraj Rayareddy and Puttaranga are doing the rounds.
“I met CM-designate Shivakumar. I interacted with him on a few issues. It was cordial ... I came here to congratulate him and wish him all the best. The cabinet formation will be done after the chief minister goes, discusses with the high command and key leaders,” former law minister HK Patil told reporters after meeting Shivakumar. MB Patil, Bangarpet MLA SN Narayanaswamy, Malavalli MLA PM Narendra Swamy and former chief whip in the Assembly Ashok Pattan also met Shivakumar.
After the swearing-in, a partial cabinet will be in place and the remaining vacancies are likely to be filled after the June 18 polls to four Rajya Sabha and seven MLC seats, sources said.
On Sunday, scores of ministerial berth aspirants, including former ministers identified with the Siddaramaiah camp, like Santhosh Lad and Mahadevappa, met Shivakumar.
First-time MLAs Basavaraj Shivaganga from Channagiri and Darshan Dhruvanarayana from Nanjangud also met their mentor.
Asked who would take oath as ministers along with him on Wednesday, Shivakumar said, “I don’t know that. The party high command will decide. I will not comment on it.”
Yathindra meets Shivakumar
Siddaramaiah’s MLC-son Dr Yathindra, who is most likely to be sworn in as minister in the Shivakumar cabinet, called on Shivakumar at the Kumara Krupa Guest House on Sunday evening.
“I am a ministerial aspirant. The high command has also assured me that I will be made a minister. I am waiting in anticipation. First, let the high command decide on inducting me as minister.
I am ready to handle whichever portfolio assigned to me,” he told reporters. “I had only met Shivakumar at Vidhana Soudha and somewhere on the way. I wasn’t able to come to his office or home to congratulate him. So, I came to convey my wishes. No (major) discussions happened. Just a little talk about SIR and our Mysuru district politics,” he added.