Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s please-all formula vis-a-vis appointment of chairpersons of state-owned boards and corporations has evidently encountered turbulence with some former ministers and senior legislators reluctant to accept these posts and work under junior ministers while a few others are disappointed that their names do not figure in the list.
Sources in the state unit of Congress said the reluctance of these legislators to accept such posts has upset the calculations of Mr Siddaramaiah who had a trying time in convincing party vice president, Rahul Gandhi, who had rejected this list of MLAs two months ago. Mr Gandhi agreed reluctantly after Mr Siddaramaiah spoke of the prospect of these legislators quitting the party ahead of polls to the Legislative Assembly in 2018. He even cited the example of former revenue minister V Srinivas Prasad quitting his seat in the Assembly and primary membership of the party after he was dropped from the cabinet during a reshuffle, the sources added.
Sources said “Most of these MLAs are trying to strike a deal with Mr Siddaramaiah who reportedly promised these posts to only 20 MLAs. They have joined the group demanding that they do not want to accept the post if they have to work under a junior minister. This is not a big deal as Mr Siddaramaiah is junior to industries minister R. V. Deshpande in terms of number of elections contested or even posts held. Ironically, the same group had pressurized the Chief Minister to announce the appointments on many occasions.”
On the other hand, some leaders felt that they should be given plum posts in state-owned boards and corporations and therefore resorted to hectic lobbying. These leaders could be convinced to accept the posts, sources added.
