No plan to meet Rahul, says Kumaraswamy

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said he had no plan to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi to discuss expansion of his Cabinet during his visit to New Delhi.

“I have no plan to meet Rahul in Delhi to discuss the Cabinet expansion. I will be meeting union ministers in Delhi on development issues related to Karnataka,” he told reporters.

Kumaraswamy’s statement led to speculation in the state's political circles that the Cabinet expansion would be delayed further. The chief minister had recently said all vacancies in his council of ministers will be filled by October 12. There are seven vacancies in the Cabinet.

Ministerial aspirants in both the Congress and the JD(S) have been lobbying to get a berth in the Cabinet. Of the seven berths, the Congress will get six, while the JD(S)’ quota is one, as per the power-sharing agreement between the coalition partners.

The state Congress leaders are learnt to have prepared a list of probable candidates for induction into the Cabinet. The leaders want about 20 of the party MLAs to be accommodated as heads of boards and corporations.

State Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the Cabinet expansion would be done after the party high command gave the green signal. He did not reveal when the expansion would happen.