New Delhi, DHNS: Siddaramaiah meets Ahmed Patel, Kharge to discuss changes. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday set in motion the exercise for a Cabinet reshuffle by discussing a list of names for induction with the Congress top brass.

The names of the probable ministers and those likely to be dropped are expected to be finalised on Friday, when Siddaramaiah meets Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh, AICC?general secretary incharge of party affairs in the state.

The exercise has to be completed by Friday as Sonia and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi are scheduled to fly out of the country on Saturday. The chief minister will be accompanied by KPCC president G?Parameshwara during the parleys.

On Thursday, Siddaramaiah met Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel. The chief minister followed it up with a discussion with Mallikarjuna Kharge, Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha.

A large number of ministers were camping in Delhi to lobby for retaining their ministership, while several legislators were in the capital to get approval for a berth in the ministry.

Siddaramaiah is struggling to finalise the list as those who would be dropped from the council of ministers may indulge in dissident activities.

Delegation of MPs

A delegation of Congress members of parliament from Karnataka comprising R Dhruvanarayana, Muddahanume Gowda, B N Chandrappa and D K Suresh met senior party leaders Oscar Fernandes and Kharge here and demanded that Revenue Minister Srinivas Prasad should not be dropped from the council of ministers.

State Cong chief post

As the party top brass also asked the chief minister to suggest names for the post of State Congress chief, he is learnt to have recommended the following five names: Power Minister D K Shivakumar, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundurao, Information Technology Minister S R Patil, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda and Animal Husbandry Minister A Manju.

However except Shivakumar and Patil, all of the others expressed their unwillingness to accept the post, sources in the party said.
Hectic activity at CM’s house

A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced at a meeting of the Council of Ministers that he would reshuffle the Ministry, his official residence in Bengaluru was abuzz with activity on Thursday.

Legislators and ministers made a beeline to the chief minister’s residence to make their presence felt, reports DHNS from Bengaluru.

Rannebennur MLA?K?B?Koliwad made no secret about his visit. “I have been elected to the Assembly five times. I feel I should be given an opportunity to be part of the Cabinet and serve in the government,” he said.

Legislators H?Y?Meti and Anil Lad too waited patiently for an audience with the chief minister. Siddaramaiah left for New Delhi in the afternoon by a special flight. Several senior ministers are already camping in the national capital lobbying to ensure their continuity in the Cabinet.

The likely in and out list

Legislators who the chief minister, during talks with Kharge, proposed to induct into the ministry: S S Mallikarjun, Priyank Kharge, Motamma, M Krishnappa, Pramod Madhwaraj, H Y Meti, Kagodu Thimmappa, Ramesh Kumar, Ramesh Jarkiholi, N A Haris, Rudrappa Lam­ani, K B Koliwad, Nara­yan­aswamy, P M Narendraswamy and D Sudhakar. He suggested that the following ministers can be dropped: Baburao Chin­cha­nsur, Vina­ykumar Sorake, Shamanur Shivasha­nkarappa, Parameshwar Naik, Ambarish, Srinivas Prasad, Shivaraj Tangadagi, Satish Jarkiholi, Qamarul Islam, Krishna Byregowda, Dinesh Gundurao, R V Deshpande, Abhaychandra Jain, Kimmane Ratnakar and S R Patil.