The cabinet expansion in Karnataka is likely to be held on August 3 and the final list of ministers could be cleared by Sunday evening or on the morning of Monday. The development comes after Chief Minister DK Shivakumar met the Congress top brass in Delhi, holding discussions over the cabinet expansion that has been under discussion for several weeks.
According to sources cited by news agency PTI, the decision regarding the cabinet expansion was held at Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in the national capital. The chief minister discussed about the probable names, taking all factors such as regional representation, caste and religion into the account.
The meeting was also attended by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal. AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala and Congress' Karnataka unit chief BK Hariprasad were also present.
"It was decided that the list of the probable candidates will be cleared on Sunday night or by Monday morning. The cabinet expansion is now likely to take place on Monday evening," PTI quoted the sources as saying.
The cabinet expansion in Karnataka
The cabinet expansion in Karnataka has been pending since Shivakumar was sworn in as the chief minister, replacing Siddaramaiah. Karnataka can have a maximum of 34 ministers, including the chief minister. At present, the state has 14 ministers, including Shivakumar.
Several Congress leaders, including those loyal to Siddaramaiah, have shown their aspirants in becoming a minister and are lobbying for themselves. Therefore, it would be extremely crucial for Shivakumar to maintain balance between his loyalists and those of the Siddaramaiah camp, keeping an eye at the 2028 assembly elections in the southern state.
Earlier, reports indicated that the Congress could even appoint as many as four deputy chief ministers; however, Shivakumar was against that move. The Congress leadership, though, is now focusing on striking a balance among multiple social groups and several regions of the state, as it finalise the list of ministers in Karnataka.
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