Is A Turmoil Brewing In Karnataka? What The List Of Ministers Tells Us

In the run up to the Karnataka Assembly elections, a lot was said about D K Shivakumar. He was the likely chief minister candidate as he was leading the party.

However, it appears that not all has gone his way. If one looks at the list of ministers, it seems as though Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has had his way.

Siddaramaiah made several moves, by which he appeared to have not endorsed the high command. This has led to rumour mongering that all is not well within the Congress. The party has won a big state and hence, everything may seem to be on track as of now. However this picture could change within a couple of days as Shivakumar does not appear to be a happy man.

While it was decided at first that Siddaramaiah would be the Chief Minister and Shivakumar his deputy, the list of ministers was being closely watched. It was also said that Shivakumar had agreed to three major portfolios and two smaller ones. However when the list eventually came out, Shivakumar got just irrigation and Bangalore in-charge. This was however a surprise to many as Shivakumar would have expected a much better deal.

The Siddaramaiah camp however maintains that it has not engineered with the list. It was prepared with due consultation with the Congress high command, they maintain.

If Shivakumar is really unhappy, then the question is how will this play out in future. It may not have any impact on the stability of the government, but will play out during the Lok Sabha elections, next year, an expert tells OneIndia. If Shivakumar does not put in all his efforts then the Congress may end up losing in many regions, including the Old Mysuru belt, the expert said.

The other big surprise is that the Congress has not included Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi in the list of ministers. These were two big tickets from the BJP that the Congress netted ahead of the elections. Shettar lost the elections, but Savadi won and it was expected that at least one of them would have been accommodated in the list of ministers.