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Rumblings continue in Karnataka govt over district in-charge ministers’ appointment
Some of the leading contenders for the post of district in-charge include revenue minister R Ashok, higher education minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan and housing minister V Somanna. There are several others who aspire to get the responsibility of Bengaluru.
Bengaluru
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that he will discuss the issue of naming the district in-charge ministers and come to a decision after resolving all issues.
“Who should be given which district incharge is something I will have to discuss with everybody and then take a decision. Will talk to everyone and in a way that there are no problems,” Bommai said on Saturday, soon after returning from Delhi where he met several cabinet ministers.
The rumblings in the Karnataka government continue as the new chief minister has not yet named district in-charge ministers. The biggest bone of contention is Bengaluru for which there are several contenders.
Some of the leading contenders for the post include revenue minister R Ashok, higher education minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan and housing minister V Somanna. There are several others who aspire to get the responsibility of Bengaluru.
But Bommai, like his predecessor, BS Yediyurappa, has retained this portfolio with him to avoid a full-blown crisis within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state that is already facing several challenges.
“I have the confidence that we will come to a decision after discussing it with everyone, Bengaluru is very important,” Bommai said, refusing to divulge further details.
People aware of the developments said that there were several bouts between leading contenders to be named as in-charge of Bengaluru. Bommai had made an interim list of district in-charge ministers only for Covid-19 and the recent floods. Ashok was named for Bengaluru and Narayan was named district in-charge of neighbouring Ramanagara.
As one of India’s biggest cities, Bengaluru is a cash-cow that has been one of the main reasons for it being so lucrative for legislators to take charge.
There has been no elected body in the corporation for over one year now that gives more power to the district in-charge minister to take decisions over some of the state’s biggest infrastructure and other projects.
“We have asked that he (CM) keep it. If you are giving it, then I have no problem. But when giving it, I am the senior most in Bengaluru,” Somanna said on Saturday.
He added that so far there has been no district in-charge minister named and that the issue will be resolved in the next 3-4 days.
He indirectly targeted Ashok who has become the de facto in charge of the city, conducting meetings of the corporation and other affairs.
Ashok had also held a few meetings with the BBMP, which other ministers had objected to, as the former had no powers to do so.
“I have never said anywhere that I want it (Bengaluru district in-charge). It is the chief minister’s prerogative and whatever he decides, I have no problem,” Ashok said on Saturday.
The BJP has been in control of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body) for over a decade. But in both BJP governments (under Yediyurappa and Bommai) since 2018, the chief minister has retained Bengaluru under them to avoid the boiling over of simmering dissent.
Control over the BBMP would also help the BJP in its perception battle of who controls the administration in Bengaluru, a globally renowned city for being one of the biggest software exporters in the country and houses one of the biggest start-up and e-commerce ecosystems globally.
The living quality in Bengaluru has denigrated over the years due to unplanned growth, mass migration, crumbling infrastructure and inability by civic authorities to provide basic amenities to its residents.
The apathy by civic agencies has been forcing citizens to mobilise resources and help themselves and not wait for any help from the authorities.
Though the government has said that it will hold the BBMP elections early next year, former corporators have expressed their apprehensions.
