Karnataka Congress MLAs Petition High Command for Ministerial Berths Amid Reshuffle Speculation

While clarity is yet to emerge on a possible Cabinet reshuffle in Karnataka, first-time Congress MLAs are learnt to have petitioned the party high command to accommodate a few of them as ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet. A letter addressed to Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, was leaked to the media on Monday. All the 31 first-time MLAs of the Congress, including the likes of CM Siddaramaiah ’s legal advisor A S Ponnanna, and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar loyalist Iqbal Hussain, are signatories in the letter. The representation came at a time when the Congress high command was yet to clear the Cabinet reshuffle owing to prevailing confusion over a possible change of guard in the state. While the Siddaramaiah camp is confident that the CM will complete his second five-year term, Shivakumar’s supporters are awaiting a change of guard, citing a purported ‘power-sharing agreement’ between the CM and the deputy CM. Due to this, the high command – which was learnt to be keen on reshuffling the Cabinet in November last year, when the Congress completed two and a half years in power – is learnt to be dragging its heels on taking a final call on the issue. Speaking to reporters in Ballari, first-time MLA Nara Bharath Reddy said they had submitted a representation to the Congress high command a few weeks ago, “which exploded in the media today”. “Our petition urges the high command to provide first-time MLAs an opportunity to serve as ministers. It does not mean that all signatories of the letter are ministerial aspirants,” he said. The letter was leaked at a time when there were intense speculations about some of these MLAs vying to be ministers, with claims that the party leadership was looking to accommodate two to three first-timers in the Cabinet.