Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed.
Credit: DH Photos
New Delhi: Chief Whip for the Congress in the Legislative Council Saleem Ahmed on Monday hinted that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah could possibly reshuffle the Karnataka Cabinet in December, probably ahead of the Winter Session of the state legislature.
“Siddaramaiah will complete two-and-a-half years as the CM in November. Senior party leaders are of the view that, after two years, a Cabinet rejig is necessary to infuse fresh energy into the government,” Ahmed told journalists in New Delhi.
He said that half the Cabinet would be replaced, with the ministers divested of their portfolios likely to be tasked with party work.
Underscoring the need to strengthen the party organisation ahead of elections to local bodies including zilla and taluk panchayats, Ahmed added, “The party may ask some of the senior ministers to take on organisational responsibilities and ask the CM to induct new faces.”
Expressing hopes for a Cabinet berth, Ahmed said, “In the past two decades, minority leaders from Kittur Karnataka region have not been given a Cabinet post. Since I hail from that region, I hope the CM considers me for a ministerial post.”