Siddaramaiah hints at rewarding supporters

Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday indicated that legislators who identify with or support him would be suitably rewarded.

He was speaking at an event organised at the Vidhana Soudha, where Jewargi MLA Ajay Singh formally took charge as Karnataka’s Special Representative in New Delhi.

“Ajay Singh wanted to be a minister, but I told him to wait. Today, he is starting his innings as the state’s representative in the national capital. But that does not mean he will be moved away from state politics. His time will come, he only has to have some patience,” Siddaramaiah said, indicating that a ministerial berth was in the offing for Singh in the next Cabinet reshuffle.

The Congress has been witnessing oneupmanship between Siddaramaiah, senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, with each trying to pitch for Cabinet berths or plum posts for their respective supporters. He recalled his association with Ajay Singh’s father, former chief minister the late N Dharam Singh.

“We served together in the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2004. I was deputy chief minister in the Dharam Singh government. We got along well. There were no issues,” he said, making an indirect contrast to the functioning of the present coalition government.