'All Have Right To Ask': Karnataka MLAs To Meet Congress High Command Over Cabinet Rejig

Last Updated:April 12, 2026, 20:50 IST

A group of at least 40 senior MLAs are travelling to Delhi to meet the Congress high command and urge them to give opportunities to fresh faces

A group of Congress MLAs are all set to meet their top leadership in New Delhi to seek representation in the Karnataka cabinet following a reshuffle.

Karnataka minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar said a group of MLAs will be meeting the party leadership in Delhi, so that the high command can decide on how to move things forward.

“All MLAs have the right to ask for a minister post; high command has to decide on it," Hebbalkar said.

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Congress MLA TB Jayachandra said the group will be meeting in Delhi to request the inclusion of legislators who have served more than three terms.

“We are going to meet high command in Delhi to request inclusion of MLAs who have served for over three terms during cabinet reshuffle," Jayachandra said.

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Pressure is mounting within the ruling Congress in Karnataka for a cabinet reshuffle. A group of senior MLAs will travel to Delhi to meet the party high command and urge them to give opportunities to fresh faces.

According to party sources, the group will include Jayachandra, the special representative of the state government in New Delhi, and assembly chief whip Ashok Pattan. They are likely to meet Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala.

On Saturday (April 11), Jayachandra said the Delhi trip is not under anyone’s specific leadership and, during the recent assembly session, senior MLAs who have won three, four and five times met, held discussions and decided to meet the party leadership to bring certain matters to their notice.

“Because of the by-elections, it was postponed. Now that Parliament is reconvening and all leaders will be in Delhi, we have unanimously decided to go and meet them," he said.

He said they planned to meet Kharge, Venugopal, and Surjewala, as well as senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

“Several youngsters were given an opportunity during the last three years. We now request that senior legislators with administrative experience be considered during the reshuffle. That’s our main intention," he said, further noting that the Congress government is about to complete three years in office. 

This group of 40, who have served as MLAs for over three terms, met Siddaramaiah last month and urged him to rejig his cabinet to give them an opportunity to serve as ministers. After meeting him, they said they will go to Delhi together after the April 9 bypolls, to meet the Congress high command and request inclusion of at least 20 of them in the reshuffle.

The demand for a cabinet reshuffle has come to the fore amid the ongoing power tussle within the ruling party over the CM post.

Party sources said while Siddaramaiah favours a cabinet reshuffle, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar wants the party to first decide on the leadership change. Several party insiders said if the Congress high command approves the cabinet reshuffle, it will signal that the incumbent chief minister will complete the full five-year term, which will scuttle the chances of Shivakumar from occupying the coveted post.

Karnataka has a sanctioned strength of 34 ministers, including the CM. Two cabinet berths are currently vacant – following the resignation of B Nagendra over allegations of embezzlement at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, and the sacking of KN Rajanna on the instructions of the party high command.

(With PTI inputs)

News politics 'All Have Right To Ask': Karnataka MLAs To Meet Congress High Command Over Cabinet Rejig

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