Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar may have more firefighting to do amid dissatisfaction among his colleagues over Cabinet portfolio allocations. The chief minister weathered the Ramalinga Reddy storm last week after the senior leader withdrew his resignation, but looks like more turbulence is headed his way.
Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who has been allocated the Bengaluru Development portfolio, has still not taken charge. Sources have told NDTV that Gowda has his apprehensions over managing the portfolio without clarity. He is expected to meet the chief minister over the same. Gowda has been allocated the Greater Bengaluru Development portfolio, while the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) remain with the chief minister.
Interestingly, Bengaluru Development portfolio had led to Reddy’s heartburn, after which he had resigned on June 5 just two days after taking oath. Reddy had claimed that he was promised the portfolio, but instead it was allocated to Krishna Byre Gowda and Reddy was assigned the Irrigation ministry. Now, it seems even the minister allocated the high-profile portfolio is seeking clarity.
Congress had managed to placate Reddy and he later took back his resignation.
It is gathered from reliable sources that Krishna Byre Gowda has landed in Delhi to urge the party high command to clear the confusion over the portfolios.
Along with Gowda, MLA Rizwan Arshad has also flown to Delhi amid lobbying for ministerial berths ahead of DK Shivakumar’s Cabinet expansion. Congress MLA from Shivajinagar, Arshad, served as the Chairman of the Joint Review Committee for the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024. The committee’s work led to the establishment of the Greater Bengaluru Authority.
Shivakumar had taken the oath last week along with 13 ministers. He has 21 vacancies left to fill, and hectic lobbying is on by the aspirants.
The new government has been hit with a series of embarrassing setbacks within the first week itself. Apart from the Ramalinga Reddy episode, another senior leader, KH Muniyappa, had voiced his dissatisfaction with the ministry he had been allocated.
Muniyappa, who has been given the Food and Civil Supplies portfolio, said that as the “seniormost” leader, he deserved a better portfolio. “I have told the leadership that as a seniormost member of the Cabinet, I should get an important portfolio,” Muniyappa told a TV channel.
