Over a dozen ministers likely in first Siddaramaiah 2.0 Cabinet

Up to 15 or more Congress lawmakers are likely to be sworn-in as ministers in the new Siddaramaiah-led government, but choosing them will be challenging with senior leader G Parameshwara warning the party of repercussions if Dalits are neglected.

To select the first batch of ministerial inductees, the Congress will have to choose from a long list of aspirants based on seniority, caste and region.

"Siddaramaiah and I will be coming to Delhi again on Friday morning and hold discussions with the high command and finalise the names," Deputy CM-designate D K Shivakumar told reporters in national capital.

Read | Bengaluru: Tight security measures in place for VVIPs ahead of swearing-in ceremony

Since the party agreed to make Siddaramaiah as the CM, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Shivakumar are expected to include their loyalists in the Cabinet.

Congress has 22 SC and 15 ST MLAs, including Parameshwara, K H Muniyappa, H C Mahadevappa, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge, Shivaraj Tangadagi, Roopakala M (Muniyappa's daughter) among others.

Earlier in the day, Parameshwara said he should be made deputy chief minister, a post he held when Congress-JD(S) coalition was in power. After it was clear that D K Shivakumar will be the only deputy CM, Parameshwara said the party high command must heed to "expectations" of the Dalit community.

"Expectations are huge. Understanding this, our high command must take decisions. Otherwise, there will be reactions naturally. I don't have to spell it out. It's good if things are set right now instead of later. Otherwise, there'll be problems for the party," Parameshwara said.

Ministerial aspirants from Bengaluru include senior leader Ramalinga Reddy, K J George, Krishna Byre Gowda, Dinesh Gundu Rao and B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan. The name of N A Haris is also doing the rounds.

With 34 Lingayat MLAs, the Congress is under pressure to consider the likes of M B Patil, Sharan Prakash Patil, Laxman Savadi, Eshwar Khandre, S S Mallikajrun, Laxmi Hebbalkar among others.

Among Vokkaligas, the Congress is likely to consider N Cheluvarayaswamy, H C Balakrishna, K M Shivalinge Gowda among others.

The names of B K Hariprasad (MLC), Ajay Singh and Madhu Bangarappa are doing the rounds under the OBC quota.

Muslim ministerial aspirants include Saleem Ahmed (MLC), Tanveer Sait, Rahim Khan, UT Khader, Kaneez Fatima among others.

Belagavi will need adequate representation in the Cabinet. "We want at least three ministerial positions for Belagavi where we have won 11 out of 18 seats," Hebbalkar said.

For the position of Speaker, speculation is that one among senior MLAs R V Deshpande, T B Jayachandra and H K Patil will be considered.

"Expectations are huge. Understanding this, our high command must take decisions. Otherwise, there will be reactions naturally. I don't have to spell it out. It's good if things are set right now instead of later. Otherwise, there'll be problems for the party," said Parameshwara, MLA, Koratagere