BENGALURU: A day after Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar were sworn-in as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, along with eight other cabinet ministers, many leaders visited Siddaramaiah on Sunday to book their berths. Satish Jarkiholi, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan and MB Patil, all from the Siddaramaiah camp, have become ministers. Some leaders also met Shivakumar on Sunday with the party high command likely to give the nod for cabinet expansion in a week.
According to sources, the party high command, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will have equal power in selecting ministers. It was clear from the first batch that Dr G Parameshwara, Priyank Kharge, KH Muniyappa, KJ George and Ramalinga Reddy were picked by the high command. Shivakumar was left sulking as he could not stop Zameer Ahmed’s induction.
During an event on the death anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at the KPCC office, minister MB Patil was busy chatting with Siddaramaiah on the dais which annoyed Shivakumar, who said, “Do not disturb when I am speaking”, sending a message that indiscipline will not be tolerated irrespective of the leader’s stature.
Meanwhile, senior legislator Basavaraj Rayareddy, a strong contender for a ministerial post and also as the speaker, called on Siddaramaiah, and later batted for a five-year term for the latter. Congress's high command has been vacillating on the rotational chief minister formula which has failed in states like Rajasthan. Shivakumar supporters have interpreted AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal’s statement that “Shivakumar will be the sole DyCM and continue as KPCC president until after 2024 LS polls”, that internally, the top brass has committed to a power- sharing formula. AICC president Mallikarjun Khage might have assured Shivakumar about the calculation after which Shivakumar agreed to be the vice-captain, a Congress leader told TNIE.