Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Aug 2: It is learnt that the camp owing allegiance to former chief minister, Siddaramaiah, is unhappy with the plan behind the appointment of district in-charge ministers with an eye on upcoming Lok Sabha election.
The move to appoint district in-charge ministers was apparently aimed at giving impetus to administration, strengthen organizational network of parties and prepare the ground for Lok Sabha election. There were also criticisms about the non-allocation of districts to ministers even after two months of formation of the coalition government. While chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, has shared the districts among the ministerial colleagues, it is said that deputy chief minister, Dr G Parameshwar, and minister, D K Shivakumar, had a major say in these appointments.
Parameshwar, Deshpande, Shivakumar, and Krishna Byre Gowda have been given two districts each. D K Shivakumar appears to have been awarded for ensuring victory for Congress candidate, N Y Gopalakrishna, in the by-election to Ballari rural constituency bypoll after the then MLA, Sriramulu, resigned his seat. Shankar has been given Koppal as that district has a significant population of Kuruba community. Pavagada represented by Venkataramanappa is in Chitradurga district. These allocations therefore seem to be justified.
At the same time, districts like Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan etc where JD(S) has a strong base have been given to JD(S) ministers. JD(S) ministers have also got Bidar, and Vijayapura districts in north Karnataka. It is said that Rajashekhar Patil wanted to become in-charge minister for Yadagiri instead of Bidar and Shivananda Patil was interested in his home district, Vijayapura, instead of Bagalkote.
Within Congress, there is dissatisfaction about Parameshwar having been given Bengaluru and Tumakuru districts. It is said that Siddaramaiah wanted to allot the city district to his close confidante, K J George.
Sources say that Siddaramaiah is angry at not having been consulted before preparation of the list of district in-charge ministers. His complaint is that the list was prepared by chief minister, deputy chief minister, and Shivakumar, and he was overlooked. Siddaramaiah is particularly angry at Mysuru district having been given to his arch rival and bete noire, G T Deve Gowda.
Siddaramaiah reportedly has confessed to his close ones that the list has clearly favoured JD(S) ministers. He also has arranged for luncheon for Congress ministers, which has kicked up curiosity about the purpose behind this gesture.
Dr G Parameshwar however, expressed the opinion that no one is dissatisfied about this list and that there is nothing strange in Siddaramaiah inviting ministers for lunch. Shivakumar said that the appointment of district in-charge ministers was prepared in consultation with leaders of both the parties. He said that the notion that Shankar is angry about having been allotted Koppal district is wrong.