Siddaramaiah convinces Rahul on appointment of 20 MLAs as board chiefs
Bengaluru: The long wait could well be over for aspirants as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, reportedly succeeded in convincing Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday on the issue of appointment of at least 20 legislators and half the number of former legislators as chairpersons of state-owned boards and corporations. Mr Gandhi had earlier shot down the proposal saying these posts ought to be reserved for party workers.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader in New Delhi disclosed that Mr Siddaramaiah cited the recent exits of former revenue minister V. Srinivasa Prasad, party leader in Assam, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Mrs Rita Bahuguna in Uttar Pradesh and Mr Vijay Bahuguna in Uttarakhand to drive home his point that many leaders in the state unit were likely to quit if they were appointed as chairpersons of boards and corporations. “Mr Siddaramaiah had made up his mind long ago (on appointment of MLAs and former legislators) because he was never comfortable with the idea of accommodating party workers in boards and corporations. He has been arguing in favour of MLAs and former MLAs from the beginning,” the leader added. The leader said as leader of the legislature party, Mr Siddaramaiah wanted to protect the interests of legislators.
He said Mr Gandhi reportedly agreed in principle to accommodate MLAs and former MLAs along with party workers to boards and corporations. “There are about 95 boards and corporations, but nearly 30 will be headed by MLAs and former MLAs,” he said adding that the first batch of MLAs would be chosen from districts where a particular community or senior leader was dropped during the cabinet reshuffle exercises. Besides, legislators belonging to backward classes and minorities could be preferred as majority of Lingayats in north Karnataka were accommodated in the ministry. “Keeping this in mind, Mr Siddaramaiah is likely to take a call along with KPCC president, Dr Parameshwar, and working president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, on the final list of names of candidates to head boards and corporations,” the leader added.
