Bengaluru: Irrespective of whether a Cabinet expansion happens at this juncture or not, there are enough indications emerging from the Congress camp that KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar is not keen to join the Siddaramaiah cabinet. He has reportedly told the party high command that since he had seen Mr Siddaramaiah’s style of functioning in the recent past, it would be difficult for him to work under Mr Siddaramaiah.
Sources said Mr Siddaramaiah would make one more effort through AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Wednesday to convince Dr Parameshwar to join his cabinet. If Dr Parameshwar doggedly sticks to his stance, the entire Cabinet expansion process is likely to be stonewalled.
In this context, Mr Siddaramaiah’s statement to the media on Tuesday evening assumed significance. “A final decision would be taken after meeting Mr Singh on Wednesday,” he told reporters.
Party sources are skeptical if Mr Siddaramaiah will go ahead with the expansion without Dr Parameshwar? They said it would be suicidal if Mr Siddaramaiah went ahead with his plan. “On the one side, the Dalit CM issue has become a political issue in Karnataka. After the Dalit killing incident in Haryana, the issue of Dalit empowerment has returned to the fore.
At this juncture, if Mr Siddaramaiah goes ahead with his cabinet expansion without Dr Parameshwar, it would send a wrong signal to the community. So, the party high command may not take the risk,” sources explained. Meanwhile, Dr Parameshwar has reportedly concurred with senior leaders that the expansion be put off till the taluk and zilla panchayat polls are over.
“He has told party leaders that he has no problem in continuing as KPCC president until the conclusion of panchayat polls. So, this would be a crucial factor while deciding on expansion or reshuffle," sources said.
Sources said in case Dr Parameshwar heeds their plea, Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa, A Manju (Arkalgud), Vinay Kulkarni (Dharwad) and K R Ramesh Kumar (Srinivaspur) would be the other legislators likely to join the cabinet.
