Karnataka Cong infighting; CM Siddaramaiah loyalist MLA says Cabinet reshuffle after 2.5 years

Bengaluru: Senior Congress MLA and Chief Whip of the state government Ashok Pattan stated on Friday that the Cabinet reshuffle will be taken up in two-and-a-half-years in Karnataka and stirred a debate in the grand old party.

Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, MLA Ashok Pattan stated that state in-charge and AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala has assured him in this regard.

“After 2.5 years, the Cabinet is going to be reshuffled. I am a senior legislator. I was supposed to become a minister but I have not got the post,” he stated. “Surjewala has assured me that I will become a minister after 2.5 years. The ministership has been given on the basis of caste. I believe that after 2.5 years, a minister post will be given to me,” MLA Ashok Pattan maintained.

However, he clarified that he will remain in the Congress party irrespective of whether he gets a Cabinet berth or not. “I don’t have an exact idea on whether four to five portfolios would be changed or the entire Cabinet is going to be reshuffled,” he explained.

Anything concerning the post of the Chief Minister would be decided by the high command. “In the Congress party, there is no concept of seniors and juniors. Once in the party, all are treated equally. Whoever is lucky, will become a minister. Those unlucky like me are talking on these lines. Whichever field it is, there must be a godfather. Without a godfather we can’t make a mark. My father is a freedom fighter and my mother was a MLA. Though, hailing from such a family, I have not been given a Cabinet post. It seems there is something wrong with my stars,” he maintained.

MLA NA Haris from Bengaluru stated, the government had given a good administration and there is nothing wrong in a Cabinet reshuffle.

“We have done work. We have been assured that the Cabinet post would be given. Let’s wait and see. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is a deserving candidate to become the Chief Minister. The high command’s decision has to be made in this regard,” he stressed.