BENGALURU: Eight Congress legislators were sworn in as ministers on Saturday as the Karnataka government finally carried out the long-overdue cabinet expansion in a bid to set right the caste and regional imbalances and put an end to dissident activities that have been plaguing the JD(S)-Congress coalition ever since it was put together.
Eight ministers were inducted while two were dropped from the Congress’ share of 22 cabinet berths, completing the ministry expansion for the party. The JD(S), however, chose to keep two berths from its share vacant. Unlike the Congress, the coalition partner seemed to be in no hurry to make appointments to the boards and corporations or appoint parliamentary secretaries either.
The cabinet expansion came with some heartburn. There were protests outside the KPCC office in Bengaluru and elsewhere by supporters of aspirants who lost out, but the Congress seemed confident of quelling any dissent. The new ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy at the Glass House at Raj Bhavan by Governor Vajubhai Vala on Saturday evening.
The effort to strike a caste balance was apparent as the Congress, while dropping two ministers, included two others from their castes -- Satish Jarkiholi, an ST, in place of his brother Ramesh Jarkiholi and M T B Nagaraj, a Kuruba, in place of R Shankar. Another Kuruba leader, C S Shivalli, Lingayat strongman M B Patil, Valmiki community’s E Tukaram, P T Parameshwar Naik (Lambani), R B Timmapur, an SC (Left) representative, and Rahim Khan, a minority community leader, were the other new ministers.
The Congress also tried to set right the skewered representation of North Karnataka in the cabinet — seven out of the eight ministers inducted hail from the region.
With Saturday’s expansion, North Karnataka will be represented by 13 ministers in the cabinet, as against 16 from South Karnataka and three from Coastal Karnataka.
The new entrants
MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, MTB Nagaraj, CS Shivalli, E Tukaram, PT Parameshwar Naik, RB Timmapur, Rahim Khan
Nine appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries. The list includes Anjali Nimbalkar, Roopa Shashidhar
Ajay Singh is special representative of Karnataka in New Delhi
19 appointed to boards & corporations. The list includes
NA Haris (BMRTC), Laxmi Hebbalkar (Mysore Minerals Ltd)
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MTB Nagaraj is not just the richest minister in HDK cabinet, but also the richest MLA in the country with total assets of R1,015 crore, according to ADR report in September
With the fresh inductions, the 32-minister strong cabinet now has ten Vokkaligas, including Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, five Lingayats, two STs, five SCs, three Muslims and three Kurubas, besides others.
The expansion may have come after Congress’ share of dissidence, internal tussle and real or perceived threats to the coalition government but the selection of ministers had Siddaramaiah’s stamp all over it.
Out of the eight ministers picked by the party, at least five — Shivalli, Tukaram, Satish Jarkiholi, Timmapur and Rahim Khan — were solidly backed by Siddaramaiah, essentially displaying the clout the former chief minister continues to enjoy with the party high command. Accommodating dissenting legislators seems to be the party’s way of soothing ruffled feathers, but not all new ministers are staunch Siddaramaiah supporters.
Party insiders suggest that Siddaramaiah was solely responsible for the swearing-in ceremony on Saturday despite pressure from coalition partners to hold it another day.