The Hindu : Karnataka News : Two Congress Ministers to be sworn in soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Two Congress Ministers to be sworn in soon

By S. Rajendran

BANGALORE, JAN. 6. Sankranti is expected to trigger another round of hectic political activity in the State with the Chief Minister, Dharam Singh, and the Janata Dal (Secular) President and former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, keen on appointing chairpersons for boards and corporations in the third week of the month, apart from filling two vacancies in the Ministry. The JD(S) leadership is eager to complete all the political appointments, including that of parliamentary secretaries and the nominations to the Legislative Council at the earliest. The idea is that with the completion of the appointments, the coalition Government can focus on developmental activities. The JD(S) has also impressed on the Congress leadership that it should fill the two vacancies in the Ministry in a fortnight.

Discussions held

Sources in the Congress and the JD(S) told The Hindu that the Chief Minister held discussions with the Congress President, Sonia Gandhi, in New Delhi and that the latter in turn had asked him to have a detailed discussion with the All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs and former Kerala Chief Minister, A.K. Anthony.

Mr. Gowda has also been in Delhi over the past two days apparently to finalise the sharing of the posts in boards and corporations. Mr. Gowda, who hosted breakfast for the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, today discussed certain projects to be undertaken in the State and the manner in which the Centre could support them. The names of two Congress legislators — former Minister Kumar Bangarappa and the Holalkere MLA B. Umapathy are stated to have been cleared for induction in the Ministry. During the recent expansion of the Ministry, the Chief Minister had his own reasons for keeping two vacancies. One explanation is that he wanted to stem dissidence, which might have erupted once the Ministry reached the maximum size.

Council Chairman

It is being stated that the name of the former minister B.K. Chandrashekar has been cleared for being elected as Chairman of the Legislative Council. Whether the election process should be set in motion during the coming session of the legislature commencing on January 20 or later has, however, not been finalised.

Of the three nominations to the Legislative Council, the JD(S) will nominate two persons and the Congress one following an understanding between the two parties. The JD(S) facilitated the election of two Congress candidates to the Rajya Sabha recently — the Union Minister Oscar Fernandes and B.K. Hariprasad. The JD(S) has also cleared the names of five legislators to be appointed as parliamentary secretaries — H.K. Kumaraswamy, C. Chandranna, Vijayalakshmi Bandisiddegowda, R.K. Rathod and B.C. Patil. Among the Congress legislators to be appointed parliamentary secretaries are Parameshwar Naik and Dinesh Gundu Rao.

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