Bengaluru: There is a rush of cabinet berth hopefuls to New Delhi even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr G. Parameshwar held a hush hush meeting in Bengaluru to discuss a reshuffle and change of portfolios on Sunday. Sources said several aspirants have queued up in New Delhi since Saturday to try their luck for a berth in what could be the last reshuffle of the Siddaramaiah ministry before the state goes to polls in 2018.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader observed that though leaders like H.M. Revanna and V.S. Ugrappa have landed in New Delhi, it looks like they have come here to provide their side of the story after more than a dozen ruling party legislators wrote a letter seeking action against them. This followed Congress moves to unseat Council chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy, who was associated with the BJP. Ugrappa has become the prime target of Congressmen after he led the the ruling party to an ignominious defeat in the vote to remove Shankaramurthy from his post. However, a sizeable number of leaders like R. B. Thimmapur, Motamma, Rajshekhar Patil Humnabad and many more are in Delhi on the pretext of meeting Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, who has undergone a knee replacement surgery.
“Most of them say they are going to inquire about the health of Mr Kharge, but in reality their agenda is to seek an appointment with party senior leaders and lobby for a berth,” the source added.
Apart from Ms Motamma and Mr Humnabad, it is learnt that Mayakonda MLA Shivamurthy Nayak and legislators P.M. Narendraswamy and K.N. Rajanna too have landed in Delhi to lobby for a place in the cabinet.
