DK Shivakumar’s Delhi visit fuels buzz

Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s visit to New Delhi on Monday has once again fuelled speculation about a possible meeting with the Congress high command on the long-pending expansion of his cabinet.

Shivakumar on Sunday said he had convened a meeting of Union ministers and Members of Parliament from Karnataka in Delhi to discuss the drought situation and other issues concerning the state.

Though there was no official word on a meeting with the Congress high command during the visit, party sources said he was expected to meet the leadership. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president BK Hariprasad are also likely to attend the meeting with the party leadership. Shivakumar and senior Congress leaders, including AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, have indicated that the cabinet expansion is likely to take place soon.

Ministerial aspirants have intensified lobbying for induction into the cabinet. While some have left for Delhi, a few aspirants met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence before he departed for the national capital.

Government Chief Whip MLA Ashok Pattan said there was information that the party leadership would meet after 6 pm on Monday.

“We are hopeful that the ministers’ list will be finalised either on Monday evening or by Tuesday. I have a strong desire to become a minister. I am a senior leader, and I am confident I will get the opportunity,” he said.

After meeting Kharge, Bangarpet MLA M Narayanswamy told reporters that he was confident one of the four Congress legislators from Kolar district would be inducted into the cabinet, as the district had not been represented in the ministry so far. “We have demanded representation. If we are ignored again, it will be difficult for us in the next election, as people may feel we are incapable. That will weaken the morale of local workers and leaders,” he said. Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and Hariprasad were in New Delhi last week to discuss the cabinet expansion.

However, the discussions could not take place as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, and several party leaders and MPs participated in a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence over the police action against students protesting the alleged NEET paper leak.

The Karnataka leaders have already held one round of discussions with the party’s top leadership on the proposed cabinet expansion.

Shivakumar was sworn in as CM along with 13 ministers on June 3, following Siddaramaiah’s resignation on May 28.

With the sanctioned strength of the Karnataka Council of Ministers being 34, including the CM, 20 berths remain vacant, increasing pressure on Shivakumar to expand the cabinet.

With several ministerial aspirants competing for a limited number of vacancies, Shivakumar and the party leadership face the difficult task of balancing regional and caste equations while minimising discontent among those left out, party sources said.