75 MLAs, workers to be appointed to Karnataka boards: Shivakumar

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced that 36 legislators and 39 party workers will be appointed to government-owned boards and corporations. A total of 7,000 positions need to be filled, including 600 highly sought-after chairperson and director positions. Shivakumar expressed confidence that the party will secure at least 25 seats out of the total 28 in Karnataka in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Bengaluru: Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said on Thursday that a total of 36 legislators and 39 party workers will soon be appointed to various government-owned boards and corporations. The official list of these 75 appointments is expected to be released imminently.

A total of 7,000 positions need to be filled, including appointments in districts and taluks. (Hindustan Times)

“The leaders and workers have brought the party to power in the state, and so they have been rewarded suitably,” Shivakumar said while addressing the media in Bengaluru.

A total of 7,000 positions need to be filled, including appointments in districts and taluks. Approximately 600 chairperson and director positions are highly sought after. Since both Shivakumar and chief minister Siddaramaiah have their preferred candidates, the task becomes significantly more challenging.

During the media interaction, Shivakumar also announced that the Lok Sabha election committee meeting is scheduled for Friday at Indira Gandhi Bhavan.

“Earlier, we planned to hold the meeting in the afternoon, but postponed it to evening, given the Prime Minister’s visit to the city,” stated Shivakumar, who is also the president of Karnataka Congress unit.

Expressing confidence in the party’s performance in the upcoming LS elections, Shivakumar said the party aims to secure at least 25 seats out of the total 28 in Karnataka. When questioned about the JD(S) contemplating joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Shivakumar remarked, “It is their wish.” “The last time we joined hands with JD(S), we were hopeful of winning a lot of seats, but ended up with one seat each. Let’s wait and see. This time, we are confident of winning at least 25 seats,” he added.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 seats while Congress and JD(S) won one each. An independent backed by the BJP also emerged victorious. Asked if the list of candidates will be finalised on January 19, Shivakumar said, “We will have the first round of meeting tomorrow. Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi have also been invited to the meeting. Ministers in charge of districts have collected opinions from all the constituencies which will be discussed in tomorrow’s meeting.”

When asked about some ministers showing reluctance to contest the upcoming general elections, he said, “If the party wants, everyone has to contest, whether it is me or anyone else.”

(With PTI inputs)