BENGALURU:The much-awaited Cabinet expansion and reshuffle have been put off indefinitely as AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh are out of the country.
Digvijay has been in the US for the last few weeks to attend to his ailing daughter. He was scheduled to return on Thursday, but it has been deferred. Similarly, Rahul is also in the US. As a result, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was scheduled to stay back in Delhi to hold talks on the Cabinet reshuffle, is returning to Bengaluru on Thursday evening. Digivjay is in charge of party affairs in Karnataka. A number of ministerial aspirants camping in Delhi for the last few days are also returning empty handed as the exercise has been put off.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the Cabinet rejig has been deferred as both Rahul and Digivjay are not in the country.
“Once they return, I will come to Delhi and finalise the exercise,” he said, while refusing to commit any date for the rejig.
He, however, indicated that it will happen only after Rahul’s visit to the state to console the families of farmers who committed suicide. The Congress leader has scheduled his visit on October 6 and 7. The chief minister wanted to rejig his two-and-a-half-year-old ministry on September 28.
Kalasa-Banduri: Interim Plea
The state government will file an interim petition in the Supreme Court regarding the Kalasa-Banduri project, said CM Siddaramaiah. A legal team of the state, after looking into the options available, has decided to file the petition, he said. Earlier, senior counsels Nani Palkhiwala and Fali Nariman had advised the state against filing the petition.