Reconstitution of State Cabinet: Karnataka CM to visit Delhi on November 15

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to visit the national capital Delhi on November 15 amid speculation over reconstitution of the State Cabinet.

When asked about the proposal to reshuffle his Ministry, which will be completing two-and-a-half years later this month, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he will speak to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and All India Congress Committee (AICC) President M. Mallikarjun Kharge after the ensuing Assembly elections in Bihar.

When asked if he will visit the national capital, Mr. Siddaramaiah told reporters at Mysuru airport on November 3 that he will visit Delhi on November 15.

When his attention was drawn to a reported statement by leaders of Bihar that Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar will become the CM, Mr. Siddaramaiah shot back at the reporters for harping on the issue of leadership change.

“Don’t you have anything else to ask?” he said before making it clear that it was the High Command that takes a decision on leadership change. “It is worthless if anybody else talks about it,” he said.

Prospects in poll-bound Bihar

Mr. Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that INDIA bloc will win the Assembly elections in Bihar. Though he has not been invited by the party to the poll-bound State, Mr Siddaramaiah said he will campaign if he is asked to do so.

He said there were a large number of people from Bihar working in Bengaluru, and the party leaders will appeal to them to vote for INDIA bloc.

When asked about the reasons for optimism about INDIA bloc’s chances in Bihar, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the present government in Bihar, headed by Nitish Kumar, was suffering from ‘anti-incumbency, and BJP’s corruption and maladministration’.

Referring to the Nitish Kumar government’s poll-promises for women, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Karnataka government is giving ₹2,000 every month to 1.24 crore women in the State. “So far, we have spent more than ₹1 lakh crore on guarantee schemes,” he said.

Dismissing possibilities of voters preferring Nitish Kumar again in Bihar, the Karnataka Chief Minister said Mr. Nitish Kumar has been a CM of Bihar for a long time. “”He has no ideology. He will go with BJP, Congressm or Lalu Prasad Yadav,” he said.

Pointing out that there is a lot of poverty in Bihar, Mr. Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that the poor, backward classes, minorities and Dalits will vote for the Congress party this time.