Bengaluru, DHNS: Meet him with demands 2 days ahead of his Delhi trip. A group of Congress legislators reasserted their demand for Cabinet berths when they met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah two days before his Delhi visit.

On Saturday, around 25 MLAs, led by Yeshwantpur MLA S T Somashekar, met Siddaramaiah and demanded dropping 25 ministers from the Cabinet, to pave way for younger MLAs.

Before meeting Siddaramaiah, the MLAs met at a private hotel to chalk out their strategies. When contacted, Somashekar said the chief minister had met their demand for appointment of Congress workers and functionaries to various boards and corporations.

“Now that one of our demands has been met, we are certain the chief minister will heed to the two other demands as well. Our demand for the removal of the 25 ministers stands. We are also pressing Siddaramaiah to allocate Rs 5 to Rs 10 crore to each of our constituencies for development works in view of the 2018 Assembly elections,” he said.

Vokkaliga lobby

Though this group of MLAs comprises many Vokkaligas, the dominant community leaders have got together to “safeguard” their interest.

Recently, Sericulture and Animal Husbandry Minister A Manju hosted a dinner for 19 Vokkaliga MLAs in the party. This group has asserted that ministers Ambarish and Kimmane Ratnakar should not be dropped from the cabinet, while aspirants like C P Yogeshwar, M Krishnappa or his son Priya Krishna be inducted.

Manju, however, said the Vokkaliga leaders are not “lobbying” for anything.
“It is perceived that Vokkaligas are not with the Congress. My intention to host the dinner was to bring all the community MLAs together. Our only demand is for the party to respect Vokkaliga leaders. Don’t ignore us and identify us for our potential. It is a matter of right, and not demand,” he added.

Lobby by senior MLAs

Senior MLAs including K B Koliwad, Maalakaraddi, Malikayya Guttedar, K?R?Ramesh Kumar, Shivanand Patil, too have been pressing for portfolios. These MLAs, some of whom have been re-elected on quite a few occasions, feel their time is running out.