A meeting between KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar and Tourism Minister Anand Singh on January 31 at the former’s residence triggered speculation. This comes in the backdrop of the latter being unhappy at being made the Minister in charge of Koppal district.
Both Mr. Singh and Mr. Shivakumar said the visit was no more than a courtesy call. “A visit to the house is not about politics. To talk politics, we would go to a resort or hotel,” Mr. Shivakumar said.
Mr. Shivakumar said they had discussed developing tourist spots in his and his brother’s constituencies. His brother D.K. Suresh represents Bangalore Rural in Parliament.
The meeting comes a few days after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reshuffled the responsibilities of ministers who were in charge of their home districts and put them in charge of districts where they have little mass support.
Mr. Singh lost the charge of the newly-created Vijayanagara district and was given charge of Koppal, which triggered protests by his supporters in Hospet. Two days ago, Mr. Singh met both Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
In reply to a question on the meeting, Mr. Bommai told reporters, "You better ask Anand Singh."
In fact, a few cabinet Ministers have reportedly expressed their unhappiness with the BJP government's new system of not allotting in-charge responsibilities of their home districts.
Mr. Singh was the first MLA to quit the Congress in 2019, leading to collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government and formation of the BJP government in Karnataka.
