Karnataka cabinet rejig: Siddaramaiah gets his 13 in, but ignites a storm
Bengaluru: In a major rejig which left some smiling and many others frowning, 13 new ministers were inducted into the Siddaramaiah Cabinet at a function held at Raj Bhavan on Sunday.
As many as 14 ministers have been dropped in what many consider is an attempt by the chief minister to give a face-lift to his three-year old government with the Assembly polls just two years away. With the reshuffle, the ministry has a strength of 33, one less than the upper constitutional limit.
Of the 13 ministers who took oath, nine are of Cabinet rank and four, ministers of state. The Cabinet ministers are Tanveer Sait, Kagodu Thimmappa, Ramesh Kumar, Basavaraj Raya Reddy, H.Y. Meti, S.S. Mallikarjun, M.R. Seetharam, Santosh Lad and Ramesh Jarkiholi while the ministers of state are Priyank Kharge, Rudrappa Lamani, Eshwar Khandre and Pramod Madhwaraj.
Thimmappa and Ramesh Kumar are former Assembly Speakers, while Priyank is the son of Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
Those dropped include P.T. Parameshwar Naik who had landed in trouble recently after Kudligi DySP in Ballari district Anupama Shenoy resigned, upset over his alleged interference in her work, embarrassing the government.
Krishnappa’s fans hold Bengaluru to ransom
Following denial of a ministerial berth to him, supporters of Vijaynagar MLA M Krishnappa held his constituency and surrounding areas to ransom blocking the main road for more than five hours on Sunday.
Around 10:45 am, a group of people entered the metro station raising slogans against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others for denying the Cabinet berth to their leader. The citizens, travelling in the train, became scared as the slogan shouting protesters entered the coaches.
The mob asked the metro train pilot to get off his cabin but he did not come out. The private security guards, who were posted at the metro station, were caught off guard and could not do anything as the protesters outnumbered them. The drama continued for about ten minutes. This delayed the departure of Baiyappanahalli bound train for over ten minutes. Interestingly, there was no sign of any cops in the vicinity.
A splinter group got inside the Vijaynagar Bus Terminal and tried to stop the movement of city buses. The protesters set fire to tyres at many places and also staged a dharna on the main road blocking vehicular traffic. The police did not make any effort to disperse the protesters.
Immolation bid
Mandya police foiled an immolation bid by a person who was upset over the dropping of Housing Minister M.H. Ambareesh from the Council of Ministers.
When protesters led by Mr Amaravati Chandrashekar were staging a dharna at Sanjay Circle, Mr C.M. Dyavappa of district Congress Labour Cell, poured kerosene on himself and attempted self-immolation. The police rushed to the spot and snatched the match box from him. They poured water on him and took him into custody.
Meanwhile, a group of actors, film directors and producers urged the CM to let Mr Ambareesh continue as minister. They called for a 12-hour bandh of film activities on Monday as mark of protest.
