Bengaluru: Has Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made up his mind to effect the long awaited a cabinet reshuffle? There were enough indications on Tuesday that this might happen with a definite picture likely to emerge on Wednesday when the Chief Minister is scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi to discuss state affairs.
Sources said that even if the Chief Minister decides to carry out a reshuffle, it might happen only after the BBMP polls. Mr Siddaramaiah who is in New Delhi to attend the Congress chief ministers’ conference, was closeted with AICC general secretary Digivjay Singh for over an hour to discuss the issue before bringing it up with Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.
Another Congress source held a diametrically opposite view: Mr Siddaramaiah was trying to give an impression that he would effect a cabinet reshuffle after the BBMP polls so that all ministerial aspirants worked sincerely to ensure a Congress win in the crucial civic polls.
“The party would have summoned Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr G. Parameshwar for a discussion if it wanted to discuss the cabinet reshuffle,” reasoned the source, adding if Mr Siddaramaiah really wanted to effect a cabinet reshuffle, he would not have discussed it with central leaders one and half months before actually effecting the reshuffle.
Meanwhile, Mr Siddaramaiah who attended the conclave told reporters that Congress Chief Ministers had decided to take the Narendra Modi government head-on over the controversial Land Acquisition Bill.
“We will not implement the new bill in Karnataka. We will go to the people and educate them,” he said. Mr Siddaramaiah is scheduled to meet Union finance minister, Arun Jaitley and urban development minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu and said the party is ready to support the GST bill if the Centre agrees to sort out concerns related to entry tax.
“We have a major issue with central devolution of funds. Karnataka will face a shortfall of Rs 4,900 crore every year,” he said adding that the issue would be discussed with central ministers on Wednesday.
