Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar on Friday left for New Delhi to discuss with the party’s high command about new Cabinet formation and the allocation of portfolios.
The sanctioned strength of Karnataka Cabinet is 34.
A day earlier, amid hectic consultations, a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting formally elected Siddaramaiah as its leader, following which he staked his claim with the Governor, who invited him to form the government.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar would take oath as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively along with a few as Ministers at 12.30 PM on Saturday at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, where preparations are on in full swing. Before heading to Delhi, DK Shivakumar also visited the stadium and inspected the preparations.
“Siddaramaiah, Randeep Singh Surjewala (AICC General Secretary) and me will be going to Delhi, we will meet Mallikarjun Kharge (AICC President) to discuss the first stage of cabinet expansion and decide about it,” Shivakumar said, before leaving for Delhi, as quoted by PTI.
Shivakumar, who was also a CM aspirant, said that the first priority of the government is fulfilling the promises made by the Congress in their manifesto. The Congress has promised to implement five ‘guarantees’ — 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti), on the very first day of assuming power in the state.
He said, “Fulfilling the promises made to the people is our first priority. Cabinet, people, all those things we will let you know later, we will not do anything leaving you (media), there is no need for any speculation. We will work unitedly.”
Siddaramaiah’s first challenge is to have members in the Cabinet with the right combinations that will represent all communities, castes as well as a mix of old and new generation leaders.