Facing a mid-life crisis, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka performed a major surgery to its cabinet, dropping as many as 14 ministers and inducting 13 new faces. As expected, the exercise sent ripples of rebellion across the party in the state, but there is no denying that a reshuffle was long overdue. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah probably knew there will be trouble if the ministry is altered in any way, but he boldly insisted on a near-total rejig in an apparent bid to shore up the government’s image and shake off the anti-incumbency baggage before the assembly elections due in 2018.
That the party high command agreed to drop so many ministers, some of them party veterans with considerable support base, in one go shows Karnataka’s importance in Congress’ scheme of things. It’s the only big state where the party is in power after the debacle it suffered in the recent assembly elections. But the threat of losing Karnataka too is very real. So, it had to do something and getting rid of underperforming ministers is a step in that direction. Most of these ministers were rated below par by a panel of experts in an assessment done by Express on the completion of three years of the Siddaramaiah government. Apart from cleansing the Cabinet of underachievers, the exercise has indirectly helped Siddaramaiah strengthen his position and quell any challenge to his leadership, including the demand for a dalit CM.
The disgruntled MLAs and their supporters have taken to the streets, disturbing life and damaging public property. The government should not remain a mute spectator to the violence orchestrated by the sulking partymen. While followers of an MLA disrupted Metro rail services in Bengaluru, those of another torched a bus in Gulbarga. Denial of cabinet berth is no reason to perpetrate violence. The MLAs and their men must face criminal action. Allowing the rebellion to continue will cost the Congress dear.