KC Venugopal To Meet Leaders In Karnataka Amid Rebellion Reports

Amid reports that a cabinet expansion or reshuffle is on the cards in Karnataka, All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal will hold meetings with party leaders and legislators in the city today.

Mr Venugopal, who reached Bengaluru on Tuesday night, will meet Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, CLP leader and Coordination Committee chief Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Pradesh Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, sources said.

Buoyed by the landslide win in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, the BJP, which is the single-largest party in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly with 105 lawmakers, is eyeing to capture power amid reports of rift between the coalition partners -- the JD(S) and Congress.

The ruling coalition has 117 members -- 78 of the Congress, 37 of the JD(S), one of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one Independent.

Also, the BJP won the bypoll to Chincholi Assembly segment and the Congress won Kundgol seat by a narrow margin of 1,601 votes pushing the saffron party to the second spot.

Mr Venugopal will then hold a meeting with Congress ministers in the coalition government, they said, adding that he will also take part in the CLP meeting scheduled in the evening.

Two Congress lawmakers of Karnataka met former chief minister SM Krishna at his Bengaluru residence on Sunday.

While Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said it would be an expansion to fill three vacant posts, there are also reports quoting top sources in the government that some ministers may be asked to step down to make way for disgruntled legislators.

Out of 34 cabinet ministers, the Congress and the JD(S) have shared 22 and 12, respectively. At present, three posts are vacant, two from the JD(S) and one from the Congress.

Even as coalition leaders, including the chief minister, struggled to save the government, ministerial aspirants started lobbying on Tuesday.

Many Congress legislators have expressed strong reservation against priority being given to the disgruntled, sidelining loyalists.

With growing number of aspirants and less posts in hand, it remains to be seen how Mr Venugopal and Congress leaders manage the situation. A section of party leaders believe that a cabinet expansion might be suitable at this moment, as any attempt for reshuffle is likely to further worsen the situation.

The Congress and the JD(S) managed to win one seat each in the Lok Sabha polls.