Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jun 18: In a blow to ministerial representation from the twin coastal districts in the state government, chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday June 18 reportedly reshuffled the cabinet, ousting two ministers, among others, sources said.
Fisheries and sports ministers Abhaychandra Jain, and urban development minister Vinay Kumar Sorake have been shown the door, it is learnt.
Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj has been given ministerial berth.
As per initial reports, health minister U T Khader too was in the exit line, but sources said that he has been retained.
Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi has given her approval for the reshuffle.
As per sources, 13 ministers have been ousted and new faces appointed in their stead. Among them is current speaker Kagodu Thimmappa. Sources said that the CM may appoint K B Kolivada as speaker in his place. Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank also finds a place.
Education minister Kimmane Ratnakar, who was in the eye of a storm after the second PU exam papers leaked twice, has also been ousted, sources claimed.
However, the list has not been made official yet.
"We discussed all names to be dropped and inducted with AICC President and Vice President Sonia and Rahulji. We have convinced them. High Command has authorised me to go ahead with the reshuffle," Siddaramaiah told reporters here after the second round of consultations in as many days with the Congress Chief.
He said "the list will be prepared in a day or two and will be submitted to the Governor".
Sources however said that Siddaramaiah would be submitting the new list of ministers to the governor on June 18 evening, and the oath-taking ceremony is likely to be held on Sunday June 19.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara and Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh were present in the meeting. Gulam Nabi Azad, who was in charge of Congress affairs in Karnataka in 2014, joined the deliberations later.
The exercise is being undertaken to tone up the government after Congress' debacle in recent Assembly polls in four states, especially Assam.
Karnataka is the only major state where the Congress is in power after being recently ousted in Kerala and Assam.
"By tomorrow or the day after, I will prepare a list and submit it to the Governor, after which they will take oath," the chief minister said.
Siddaramaiah, however, declined to comment on names and number of Ministers who would be dropped.
The talk about the ministry reshuffle had been doing the rounds for long but various reasons like drought and elections to local bodies, Council and Rajya Sabha have been cited for its deferment.
Reacting to the development, Abhaychandra Jain declined to comment on his reported ouster but added that he was saddened by the move. He asserted that he would continue to remain a loyal Congressman and focus on developing his constituency.
List of ministers ousted (likely)
Abhaychandra Jain (fisheries and sports)
Vinay Kumar Sorake (urban development)
P T Parameshwar Naik (labour)
Ambareesh (housing)
Kimmanne Ratnakar (education)
Shivaraj Tangadagi (minor irrigation)
Dinesh Gundurao (food and civil supplies)
Shamanur Shivashankarappa (horticulture)
V Srinivas Prasad (revenue)
S R Patil (IT-BT)
Qamarul Islam (minority welfare)
Satish Jarkiholi (small scale industries)
Baburao Chinchansur (textile and ports)
New ministers (likely)
Pramod Madhwaraj - Udupi MLA
Priyank Kharge - Chitrapur MLA
Rudrappa Lamani - Haveri MLA
Santosh Lad - Kalagatagi MLA
Tanveer Seth - Narasimharaja MLA
N A Haris - Shantinagar MLA
Shivamurthy Naik (Mayakonda, Davangere) or Gopalkrishna
K Sudhakar - Chikkaballapur MLA
Kagodu Thimmappa - Sagar MLA
Sudhakar - Hiriyur MLA
M Krishanappa - Vijayanagar MLA
Ramesh Kumar -Srinivasapura MLA
S S Mallikarjun - Davangere north MLA
Appaji Nadagouda (Muddebihal, Bijapur) or Siddu Nyamagouda (Jamkhandi, Bagalkot)
With PTI inputs