Digvijaya, Siddaramaiah to finalise Cabinet rejig plan today

CM to bring a list of leaders to be inducted

The much-awaited reshuffle of the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet is likely to take place soon as  Digvijaya Singh, as the State incharge of the  party’s affairs, is scheduled to hold talks with leaders from the State on Monday.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to arrive in the national capital on Monday. Digvijaya Singh will hold a meeting with him, along with KPCC president G Parameshwara.
The chief minister is expected to bring a list of leaders he wants to induct as new ministers and the list of ministers he wants to drop. Besides discussing the lists, the leaders will also decide on Parameshwara’s induction.

Though there is a rumour that Siddaramaiah is inclined to drop eight ministers and induct 10 new faces, a final decision on this will be taken after a detailed discussion, sources told Deccan Herald.

After finalising the list, all the three leaders are expected to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi for approval.

Large number of aspirants

With a large number of aspirants lobbying for the posts, party leaders are finding it difficult to finalise the names. According to his current tour programme, the chief minister will stay in Delhi for three days from Monday to execute the tough task.

A large number of ministerial aspirants in the party are already camping in the national capital and knocking on the doors of their leaders, pleading their case.

Senior Congress leaders Basavaraj Rayareddy, A B Malaka Reddy, Veeranna Mathikatti, Siddu Nyamagouda, Vinay Kulkarni, K B Koliwad and others have already arrived in the national capital.

Power Minister D K Shivakumar and Information Minister R Roshan Baig are also camping here. 

Speaking to reporters separately, Parameshwara said cabinet reshuffle was certain this time and there was no ambiguity in it.

However, he said the chief minister and party top brass will take the final decision on whom to induct and drop. He also dismissed the rumours of differences between him and Siddaramaiah.

Parameshwara said it was up to the party high command to decide on his induction.
Merit over caste

To a question on the demand to make a Dalit leader the next Pradesh Congress president, he said the party will take a decision based on merit rather than caste.

“Selection of president should be based on the leader’s capacity to bring the party to power rather than his caste,” he said.