Too many hopefuls spoil cabinet party in K'taka

The newly-formed Karnataka Development Front (KDF) government in the state is heading its predecessor's way.

Just as erstwhile chief minister Dharam Singh could not expand the cabinet even after one and a half years in power, the incumbent KDF government led by H D Kumaraswamy is finding it hard to pick from among the clai-mants for cabinet berths.

Three major factors - the lengthy list of ministerial aspirants, caste representation and the recent disqualification of Jaya Bachchan from the Rajya Sabha for holding an office of profit "" have emerged as stumbling blocks in the way of a cabinet expansion.

Some 12 ministerial berths, to be shared equally by the JD(S) and the BJP, are yet to be filled. The caste representation in the JD(S) camp for the ministerial berths has been worked out: Vokkaliga two, Lingayat two, Dalit one and minorities one.

Against two berths for Vokkaligas, there are four aspirants - G T Deve Gowda, S L Dharme Gowda, former minister V Satyanarayana and B Nagarajaiah. Similarly, among the Lingayats, Mahima Patel (son of former chief minister J H Patel), Parimala Nagappa (wife of former minister H Nagappa, who was killed by forest brigand Veerappan, former ministers Amaregouda L Bayyapure and H S Mahadeva Prasad are in the fray.

While Chamarajpet legislator Syed Zameer Ahmed may make it to the Cabinet as a representative of the minorities, there are possibilities that A R Krishnamurthy (son of former Kerala governor B Rachaiah) might be roped into the Cabinet from among the Dalits. But it may not be smooth sailing for either as there are too many strong contenders like former minister Meerajuddin N Patel.

"All ministerial aspirants form the core of the party. It is a gargantuan task to narrow the list to six. The exercise is bound to cause some unrest among the party cadre," a senior JD(S) leader observed.

The problem in identifying the six probable ministers from the BJP camp is greater as the party has come to power for the first time in Karnataka in its 20-year history in the state.

The BJP has adopted a different norm for selecting ministers. It has accorded top priority to regional representation. There are as many as 11 strong contenders for ministership in the BJP. While Vivekananda Vaidya and Vishwanath Hegde Kageri are staking their claims from Uttara Kannada, Vimala Gowda and Shobha Karandlaje are fighting under the women category.

The other aspirants include Rajendra Verma (Bidar), Revoo Naik (Gulbarga), Araga Jnanendra (Shimoga), Shivanananda Naik, Ravindranath (Davanagere), Shivaputrappa Desai (Bijapur) and Lakshaman Savdi (Belgaum).

Since the list of aspirants in both the JD(S) and BJP is lengthy, both parties planned to compensate losers by appointing them as chairpersons of the government boards and corporations.

The posts of chairpersons, inclusive of benefits and honorarium, are equivalent to that of the cabinet rank ministers.

However, the disqualification of Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan on the ground that legislators cannot hold an office of profit has compounded the problems for the KDF in expanding the Cabinet.

"After the Jaya Bachchan episode, our party legislators are not showing interest in boards and corporations. This has increased the number of ministerial aspirants.

We will hold a meeting during the first week of April to sort out the matter. Only then will the Cabinet expansion take place," the JD(S) leader stated.