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On Karnataka cabinet snub, Congress's Hariprasad says ‘should ask Siddaramaiah’
Senior leaders like former minister RV Deshpande and former Rajya Sabha MP BK Hariprasad did not find a place in Siddaramaiah's cabinet.
Senior Karnataka Congress leader B K Hariprasad on Saturday refused to comment on his omission from the state cabinet saying “you should ask Mr Siddaramaiah.” BK Hariprasad, the former Rajya Sabha MP, did not find a seat in the 34-member Karnataka cabinet even as his name prominently figured in several media reports on the initial list of eight ministers, apart from chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar.
Asked about the conspicuous omission, Hariprasad told ANI, “You should ask Mr Siddaramaiah who is the chief minister. I have worked in the entire country.”
When the reporter further pressed on the reason behind his absence in the cabinet, he said, “I may not fit in the seat exams. The test I have failed, very simple.”
“My fight was on an ideological basis. My fight was not to become the minister or the chief minister. I wanted to defeat these fascist forces,” Hariprasad, the leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, added.
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Apart from Hariprasad, former CM Jagdish Shettar, who lost his election, and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi, who won his seat, did not find a place in Siddaramaiah's cabinet. Both leaders had defected from the BJP to the Congress ahead of the elections. Until Friday, senior Congress leaders had indicated that they would induct Shettar into the cabinet and nominate him as a member of the legislative council.
Siddaramaiah on Saturday said all the 34 cabinet berths have been filled with an intention to impart a new touch to governance in the state. He said the decision to fill all the sanctioned ministerial posts was taken to fulfil the promises made by Congress in its election manifesto.
"A full-fledged cabinet has been formed in the state. Apart from the Chief Minister, 33 posts have also been filled. Allocation of portfolios will be done by today or tomorrow," he told reporters.
