BENGALURU: With several bigwigs and veteran leaders of Congress expressing serious displeasure over his style of functioning, would Chief Minister Siddaramaiah be able to drop non-performing ministers and induct new faces during a reshuffle likely over the next couple of weeks.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader in the Chief Minister's camp disclosed that Mr Siddaramaiah would, in all probability, visit New Delhi within a fortnight's time to secure a go-ahead from central leaders to carry out cabinet reshuffle exercise to coincide with completion of three years in office.
“Mr Siddaramaiah intends to drop ministers like – Qamar-ul Islam, Baburao Chinchansur, V. Srinivas Prasad, Shamanoor Shivashankarappa, M. H. Ambareesh, P. T. Parameshwara Naik and few others, and induct new faces into his cabinet,” the leader added.
The leader also conceded that executing Mr Siddaramaiah's plans are easier said than done as many veterans including the likes of Mr S M Krishna and Mr Janardhan Poojary have criticized him recently, and therefore the Chief Minister could find it difficult to convince central leaders about the exercise.
“At the moment party central leaders are also busy fighting elections in five states as well as busy in battling legal cases involving Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and vice president, Rahul Gandhi. Above all, many leaders unlike Mr Krishna or Mr Poojary indirectly expressed their unhappiness over Mr Siddaramaiah's style of functioning. Therefore, it might just be tough for him to execute his plans,” the leader added.
Besides, Mr Siddaramaiah's plans to drop few ministers such as Mr Chinchansur and Mr Islam might just bring him in direct conflict with Congress leader in Lok Sabha, M. Mallikarjuna Kharge, as these two leaders are most important for his survival as MP from Kalaburagi.
“Mr Islam and Mr Chinchansur represent two powerful communities in Kalaburagi constituency. If they are dropped, then there's a fear that these two leaders might work against Mr Kharge. Therefore, it looks almost impossible as of now to drop these two leaders unless Mr Kharge concedes to Mr Siddaramaiah's will,” the leader added.
Dr G: AICC revamp after polls in four states
Fuelling speculation over a change of the AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka affairs, Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwar said on Friday that it was quite possible.
Answering a question posed by reporters here on Friday, Dr Parameshwar who is also the KPCC president, said the AICC would be revamped after elections in other states. After the revamp, the leaders in charge of all states would change and there is possibility of Mr Singh being shifted, he said.
When asked about a Cabinet reshuffle in Karnataka, Dr Parameshwar said that he was not aware of any such development. “It is the prerogative of the Chief Minister. He can reshuffle the ministry and take in whoever he wants,” he added.
