MYSURU: The wait for ministerial aspirants could get longer but those waiting to secure berths in state-owned boards and corporations would get their call within this month, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said here on Monday.
He told the media that the list of names of Congress workers chosen to be appointed as members of these organisations was almost ready, adding “We will appoint them soon.” On much-awaited reshuffle of his ministry, however, Mr Siddaramaiah merely said he would discuss the issue with top leaders of Congress during his visit to New Delhi on Tuesday and Wednesday. When asked whether he intends to drops some ministers for nonperformance, he said “We will first discuss about expansion of the cabinet with our high command, later we will contemplate about other aspects.”
Asked to comment about BJP vice president B.S. Yeddyurappa’s statement that the state government had borrowed beyond limits, he said “People have given their mandate for our performance during the last two years, and 60 percent of those elected to Gram Panchayats are supported by the Congress. Did Mr Yeddyurappa go to jail for giving pro-people governance? He does not have any right to pass comments on me. Mr Yeddyurappa is frustrated after losing power. We have not taken loans unnecessarily. When we take loans, we should know if we can repay them. So, we have borrowed within our limit, or else would it have been possible to present a budget with an estimated expenditure of Rs 1,42,000 crores?” he asked.
On the monsoon, he said though forecasts indicated deficit rainfall across the country, Karnataka has already received copious rain before the onset of the monsoon. “We are hoping that it will rain well during this season as well,” he added.
Scores of victorious Gram Panchayat members swarmed Mr Siddaramaiah’s residence here, preventing the leader from meeting people during ‘Janata Darshan’ outside his residence. The Chief Minister, however, received a couple of petitions before setting out to attend the wedding of his nephew S Mahadeva.
