The tussle among Ministers for some key portfolios is said to be the reason for the delay in issuing the final notification on allocation of portfolios by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to his ministerial colleagues, including Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar.
According to sources, the allocation of portfolios is likely to be made on Monday. The delay is said to be on account of a few Ministers seeking plum portfolios.
Actually, the allocation of portfolios was expected to be done on Sunday itself, as 24 Ministers had been sworn-in on Saturday.
Eight-time MLA Ramalinga Reddy reportedly expressed displeasure on the likely allocation of Transport portfolio to him. Mr. Shivakumar called on Mr. Reddy at his residence on Sunday and held talks over allocation of portfolios in a bid to pacify him.
Similarly, senior leader G. Parameshwara seems to be not keen on the Home portfolio. He had held the portfolio earlier in the Congress government. It is reported that Priyanka Kharge has expressed his desire to have Home portfolio.
Though a list of allocation of portfolios is doing rounds since Saturday, final approval on who would get what will be known only on Monday.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, in an official release, on Sunday said: “portfolio allocation will be completed shortly”, but did not give a definite time frame for it.
Moreover, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, whose final stamp is required for official allocation of portfolios, is said to be out of station, sources maintained.
It may be noted that for the first time after several years, Karnataka has seen formation of a full-fledged Ministry with maximum size of 34 Ministers including the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
