According to sources, the government of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would appoint another 24 ministers on Saturday. According to sources, the names were decided upon during the meeting between Mr Siddaramaiah, his deputy DK Shivakumar, and central party leaders in Delhi. On Friday, the Chief Minister will have a final meeting with Rahul Gandhi.
As chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, Siddaramaiah and state Congress president DK Shivakumar took their oaths on May 20.
Along with them, eight MLAs took their oaths for ministerial positions, including Priyank Kharge, son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
However, there hasn’t been a portfolio allocation as of yet, which has earned the BJP derision. In response, the Congress brought up the time during the pandemic when CM BS Yediyurappa was the only minister in the cabinet at the time.
The Congress will have a difficult time creating a ministerial list or allocating ministries since it must balance and adequately represent different communities.
The Lingayats, the state’s most important political group, had claimed a claim to the position of chief minister by pointing to their significant role in the Congress victory.
There is conjecture that some ministerial vacancies will be filled by Lingayat MLAs in the absence of a CM for the community.
The Congress is also under pressure to demonstrate speedy results and fulfil the commitments it made before the elections because general elections are scheduled for next year.
Karnataka is a crucial battleground state because it sends 28 MPs to the Lok Sabha.
Today’s statement by new minister Priyank Kharge that the new Congress administration aims to review earlier BJP policies and “set it right” has led to suspicion that choices like the Muslim quota, the hijab ban, and the anti-conversion law are up for review.
He said in an exclusive interview that “any bill, executive order, or government order that is regressive to the economic policies of Karnataka, that does not create employment, that creates disharmony in the state will be reviewed or rejected, if necessary.”
This month, the Congress achieved a commanding victory in Karnataka, taking 135 of the state’s 224 seats. 66 seats went to the BJP, which was in power in the state, and 19 to HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular.
Additionally, the Congress increased its vote share from 38.1% in 2018 to 42.9% in 2019. JD(S) votes, which fell from 18.3 to 13.3 percent, made up the gap. The BJP kept its 36% vote percentage from the previous year.
