Two dozen ministers will be inducted into Karnataka Cabinet on Saturday

Two dozen ministers will be inducted in the Karnataka Cabinet on Saturday, as the Congress leadership concluded its deliberations after reconciling the differences between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

A senior leader involved in the discussions that was spread over three days told DH that all the remaining 24 slots – Karnataka can have a maximum of 34 ministers, including Chief Minister – will be filled, though the party has not officially declared who will be inducted in Siddaramaiah’s team.

The decision came on a day Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar separately met Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi besides having discussions with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The two Karnataka leaders have been in continuous discussions with Congress General Secretaries KC Venugopal (Organisation) and Randeep Surjewala (Karnataka incharge).

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Surjewala told reporters that the decision on who to be included in the Cabinet is that of the Chief Minister and Siddaramaiah has discussed various names with the party, which has left it to him to decide. Sources said the swearing-in ceremony will be held in Bengaluru on Saturday at 11:45 AM.

Sources said HK Patil, Dinesh Gundurao, RB Timmapur, B Nagendra, NS Bosaraju, Madhu Bangarappa, Laxmi Hebbalkar, D Sudhakar, KN Rajanna and Shivaraj Tangadagi are among the names that were cleared after discussions that saw Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar batting hard for their loyalists and in some cases, trying to prevent their entry.

Krishna Byre Gowda, HC Mahadevappa, Santosh Lad, Byrathi Suresh, Puttaranga Setti, Eshwar Khandre, Rahim Khan, Piriyapattana Venkatesh, Mankal Vaidya, Saranaprakash Patil, Shivananda Patil, SS Mallikarjun and Sharana Prakash Patil are also likely to be inducted.

One of the prominent leaders who did not make the cut was BK Hariprasad, whose inclusion Siddaramaiah vehemently resisted even though Shivakumar argued for his inclusion from the Legislative Council.

Bosaraju, who is presently not an MLA or MLC, is likely to be inducted into the Ministry and later brought to the Legislative Council, as the party finally decided to make good of its promise it made to him while rejecting ticket during the elections. He would be the lone representative from the Council, once he is elected.

Sources said Shivakumar argued that Hariprasad, a Gandhi family loyalist and old warhorse, could also be considered as a representative of the Ediga community but the leadership finally chose Bangarappa.

Hebbalkar, a close confidante of Shivakumar who belongs to Panchamasali Lingayat community, is likely to be the lone woman face in the Cabinet. Sudhakar would represent Jains while Tangadagi, a Dalit, would represent the Bovi community and Rajanna represents Valmiki community.