Mahila Congress President After Serving For Two Years, Expresses Displeasure Over Denial Of Ministerial Berth To Women
Sowmya Reddy expressed displeasure over denial of a ministerial berth for a woman legislator in D.K. Shivakumar government: Reports
BENGALURU: Upon her completion of two years as Mahila Congress President, former MLA and President of Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Committee Sowmya Reddy has offered her resignation to the post on August 20 while the matter came to light on Saturday, close to two-months after the resignation. In her resignation to All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba stated “I had accepted the post only for two years when I took it (August 2024)” and the resignation said “I will continue as the President until the party finds a new one.”
However, Sowmya Reddy expressed displeasure over denial of a ministerial berth for a woman legislator in D.K. Shivakumar government which completed 3 months without a woman minister in his ministry.
Sowmya Reddy is the daughter of Minister of Forests, Ecology and Environment Ramalinga Reddy. She represented Jayanagar Assembly seat of Bengaluru city from 2018-23. In her resignation to All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba, Sowmya Reddy stated “I again bring to your attention, we still don’t have a single woman minister in the Karnataka State government till now.”
When D.K. Shivakumar was sworn-in as Chief Minister in June this year, Shivakumar along with 13 Cabinet ministers took oath, all male and later on during ministry expansion, it was speculated that representation would be given to women in ministry. Aspirants such as Laxmi Hebbalkar among others dreams of making into the ministry dashed. Under the Siddaramaiah government, Laxmi Hebbalkar served as the Minister of Women and Child Welfare to serve as the lone women representative in the cabinet. Laxmi Hebbalkar served as Minister from May 2023 to June 2026.
It may be recalled here, Ramalinga Reddy withdrew his resignation miffed at missing out on Bengaluru Development Ministry under Shivakumar as Chief Minister.
Ramalinga Reddy at a press conference in June, stated he was assured by Shivakumar to hand him Bengaluru Development Ministry but he was allocated Water Resources Ministry instead and Bengaluru Development Ministry was given to Krishna Byre Gowda, MLA representing Byatarayanapura in Bengaluru city. Later, Ramalinga Reddy was moved to Minister of Forests, Ecology and Environment. Reddy withdrew his resignation after he was convinced by leaders.
