Bengaluru, Oct 13 (India Today) : As many as 15 ministers of the Congress government in Karnataka are in serious trouble, as the party high command has decided to initiate disciplinary action against them for failing to mark their presence during vice-president Rahul Gandhi's trip to Karnataka last week.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) had issued standing instructions to all the ministers of the Siddaramaiah government to be present when Rahul toured the state extensively. However, senior leaders like Horticulture Minister Shyamnur Shivashankarappa, Housing Minister MH Ambarish, Textiles Minister Baburao Chinchansur and 12 others were not present when Rahul was on visit.

According to party sources, AICC general secretary (Karnataka in-charge) Digvijaya Singh, who took note of the absent ministers, has informed the KPCC to issue show-cause notices to them. "It is a clear sign of disrespect towards the Congress vice-president. They (ministers) were supposed to be present for all the events attended by Rahulji. Their absence amounts to serious violation of our code of conduct. We will take disciplinary action as well," a KPCC source said.

Many of the senior ministers, who failed to greet Rahul, are reportedly not on good terms with Siddaramaiah.

Shivashankarappa and Ambarish in particular are unhappy with the CM's working style. There are speculations they might even be dropped from the Cabinet during the reshuffle later this month.

"Many of the ministers, who were not present during Rahul's visit, are on their way out from the Council of Ministers. They must have thought that meeting or greeting Rahul will not make any difference to their status considering that they are most likely to be dropped from the Council. That could be one of the reasons for staying away," said a senior Congress leader.

Another camp in the KPCC was of the view that the ministers stayed away during Rahul's visit to demonstrate that all was not well with the Siddaramaiah government.