BENGALURU: The final list of some 10-12 legislators to be sworn-in on Wednesday along with chief minister-designated DK Shivakumar will be out on Tuesday. The swearing-in will be held at Glass House at Lok Bhavan at 4.05 pm on Wednesday.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC General Secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala will sit together along with caretaker chief minister Siddaramaiah and CM-designated Shivakumar to finalise the list.
The meeting was scheduled for Monday evening, but was postponed to Tuesday as Rahul, who was in Jaipur, reached Delhi late, sources said. That prolonged the suspense among the state legislators, who have thronged Delhi.
Sources said the high-level meeting is expected to pick 10 out of 12 legislators from Siddaramaiah’s list and 12 out of 15 from Shivakumar’s.
The remaining berths are likely to be filled only after the June 18 polls to four Rajya Sabha and seven MLC seats, the sources added.
Late on Monday evening, Kharge and Venugopal held preliminary talks for about half-an-hour at Kharge’s residence. They looked at the lists presented by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the sources said.
Among the names being considered for ministerial berths are Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Priyank Kharge, Dr HC Mahadevappa, Santosh Lad and Zameer Ahmed Khan.
Party sources said the new cabinet will feature a mix of experienced leaders and fresh faces, with careful consideration given to caste representation, regional balance and political loyalties, particularly within the Siddaramaiah camp.
Speaking to reporters after checking into Karnataka Bhavan, Shivakumar said, “We have to decide,” referring to the composition of the Council of Ministers.
During the day, he kept busy meeting Congress functionaries.
Laxmi confident of being made min again
Chief Minister-in-waiting and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President DK Shivakumar along with former ministers Satish Jarkiholi and
Dr MC Sudhakar met Abhishek Manu Singhvi and invited him to take part in the swearing-in ceremony.
The only woman minister in the previous Siddaramaiah cabinet Laxmi Hebbalkar expressed confidence that she would be made a minister again as she put forth a report card on her performance as women and child welfare minister for three years. “I was made a minister for the first time and hoped that the high command would continue with me,” she told reporters.
Earlier in the morning, Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, HC Mahadevappa and KJ George left for New Delhi by a special flight. Shivakumar chose to stay at Karnataka Bhavan in the national capital which was jam packed with legislators, while Siddaramaiah stayed at a private hotel along with George. Later, they had dinner at the residence of Mahadevappa’s son Sunil Bose, who is Chamarajanagar MP.