At last, minister Satish Jarkiholi has managed to rid off the excise portfolio. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has made him the small scale industries (SSI) minister, while keeping the excise portfolio with himself.
Small scale industries portfolio is one among the many portfolios held by Siddaramaiah. The chief minister sent a letter requesting Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala to give his assent to the changes in the portfolio.
Till late in the evening, there was no communique from Raj Bhavan as to whether the governor has approved the changes.
Jarkiholi had gone to the extent of resigning as excise minister. The reasons were many. He had claimed that he cannot mingle with people as excise minister.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had pacified and assured Jarkiholi that he would be relieved of the portfolio at a suitable time.
Performance review time
Surprisingly, the swapping of the portfolios comes at a time when Siddaramaiah has
already begun the review of performance of all the departments to finalise the budget to be presented on March 13.
He has been holding a series of meetings with bureaucrats and ministers to get feedback on various key departments’ performance.
The excise department is one among the four high revenue generating departments in the State.
Jarkiholi had met Siddaramaiah on Thursday as well as on Friday morning. Finally, his wish has been granted. But it is not clear whether he wanted this particular portfolio.
Sources in the chief minister’s office said that Jarkiholi may get a different portfolio during the reshuffle or expansion of the council of ministry.