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8 picked as Karnataka ministers in first list to represent communities
Congress finalizes first list of ministers in Siddaramaiah's government just hours before the oath-taking ceremony; list includes eight MLAs named cabinet ministers.
Bengaluru: After hours of deliberations that went late into Friday night, the Congress finalised the first list of ministers just hours before the oath-taking ceremony. The list of eight MLAs named cabinet ministers in the Siddaramaiahs government includes a Lingayat leader, two Dalit leaders, a Christian and a Muslim.
Though senior leaders who attended the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) said 20 ministers will be sworn in, leaders in the know of the development said the party was not able to conclude the discussion on all berths due to lack of time. “There was limited time to find all 20 candidates after taking consensuses of both the chief minister and deputy chief minister, who have their preferences. Since the swearing-in was scheduled for the first half of Saturday, only eight were selected,” said a party leader.
The list included Congress national president Mallikarjun Charge’s son Priyank Kharge, former deputy CM G Parameshwara and Lingayat strongman MB Patil.
Parameshwara won the election from Koratagere constituency against JD(S) leader PR Sudhakar Lal. The veteran Congress leader served as the deputy CM during the Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy. He was also the longest-serving Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief for eight years.
Mallangouda Basavanagouda Patil or MB Patil, a senior Congress leader and former home minister, was the party’s Lingayat face in the run-up to the elections. He was elected from Babaleshwar in Bijapur district, for the fifth time this year.
Priyank Kharge won from Chittapur, defeating BJP’sManikanta Rathod by over 13,000 votes and recording his third consecutive victory in the seat.
Other names include KH Muniyappa, a Dalit leader who won from Devanahalli. He is a former Union minister. KJ George, a five-term MLA who is said to be close to the Gandhi family, is also named in the first list of cabinet ministers.
Ramalinga Reddy, an eight-time MLA, has been named a cabinet minister with an eye on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls, according to a party source. He is considered to be an influential leader, with experience in handling various portfolios.
BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, also on the list, is a close aide to Siddaramaiah and won from Chamarajpet. He is a JD(S) turncoat and is considered to be the tallest Muslim leader in the party’s Karnataka unit.
