The much-anticipated Karnataka Cabinet expansion finally materialised on Monday with the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administering the oath of office and secrecy to 19 Ministers.
However, several Congress legislators were disgruntled; an MLA even resigned after he was not inducted into the Cabinet.
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar appealed to them to be patient, insisting that his patience brought him to the position he is in now. He spoke amid simmering discontent within the party, with supporters of some disappointed ministerial aspirants protesting and a couple of legislators offering to resign as MLAs.
"There are many legislators, many of them are eligible; I'm not denying that. The party has to make decisions in some situations. I too was not considered for the minister post in 2004; during the Siddaramaiah government too (in 2013-18) I was not taken into the cabinet initially. I remained patient," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I'm sitting in this position because I remained patient. I request everyone to be patient. We will create some opportunity for everyone. Please be patient."
Unhappy over being excluded from the cabinet expansion, Congress MLA from Indi, Yashavantarayagouda V Patil submitted his resignation from his legislative post on Monday.
Sagara MLA Belur Gopalakrishna also expressed his displeasure and his intention to resign.
Stating that he was deeply disappointed, he said, "It looks like only the influential and children of ex-CMs and senior leaders get prominence, not common legislators. I'm hurt, I'm going to resign tomorrow from the MLA post."
In Mysuru, supporters of senior MLA Tanveer Sait staged a road blockade on the Mysuru-Bengaluru road, protesting against their leader being denied a ministerial position.
The protesters sat on the road, demanding justice. The demonstration caused a traffic jam. Police detained the protesters.
Speaking to reporters, Sait questioned the basis on which this Cabinet has been expanded.
He said he will call a meeting of his supporters and well-wishers soon and decide on the future course of action. Alleging that the party has failed him, he said that those who openly engaged in anti-party activities and challenged the party have been rewarded.
"There seems to be no value for loyalty and honesty."
In Bengaluru, supporters of Govindarajanagar MLA Priya Krisha staged protests, shouting slogans demanding justice. Several such protests by supporters of Ministerial aspirants have been reported from different parts of the State.
