Top

Four faces from Karnataka in Union cabinet

Former Union Minister Ramesh Jigajinagi who won again from Vijayapura, too did not make to the Cabinet this time.

Four Members of Parliament, including former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman (elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka), Sadananda Gowda, Prahlad Joshi, and Suresh Angadi, were inducted into the new Union Cabinet on Thursday but the surprise omission was Ananth Kumar Hedge, Uttara Kannada MP, who won by the highest margin of 4.79 lakh votes in the state.

Hedge, known for his controversial views on the Constitution, not to mention Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Hindutva, had invited frowns from even his party colleagues and his name going missing from the ministers’ list obviously indicates that the BJP would like to keep those courting controversy at bay. Hegde was a member of the previous Modi government, functioning as MoS for skill development.

Former Union Minister Ramesh Jigajinagi who won again from Vijayapura, too did not make to the Cabinet this time.

Some leaders of the state BJP also felt the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were ignored though the party achieved a record, winning all seven reserved parliament constituencies in the state.

All three MPs who were accommodated in the cabinet Thursday had defeated their opponents by impressive margins.

While former Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda defeated his Congress rival and RDPR minister Krishna Byre Gowda in Bangalore (North) by a margin of 1,47,518 votes, former state BJP chief Pralhad Joshi's victory margin in Dharwad over Vinay Kulkarni of the Congress was 2,05,072 votes. In Belagavi, Suresh Angadi trounced his Congress rival Sadhunavar by 3,91,304 votes.

Region wise, prominence has been given to Bombay-Karnataka, considered a strong bastion of the BJP, as two MPs hail from this region, and elected for their fourth term in Lok Sabha.

With the induction of Mr Gowda and Mr Angadi, representation has been given to two dominant communities: Vokkaligas and Lingayats respectively. Mr Sadananda Gowda has served both as CM and president of the state BJP and moved from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru to Bangalore (North) seat.

He held key portfolios such as railways and law in the previous government.

Mr Joshi was elected state unit president in 2013 but was replaced by former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa after the latter's return to the party.

Sadananda Gowda: Started his career as a lawyer in Puttur, but gradually climbed every rung in the hierarchy of BJP prior to his election as MLA and subsequently MP. He was representing Udupi-Chikkamagaluru in Lok Sabha when he was forced to return to state politics and take over as Chief Minister following Mr Yeddyurappa's exit in 2011. Later, he won the general elections from Bangalore (North) in 2014 and held cabinet key positions including railways, law and programme implementation.

Nirmala Sitharaman: A Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Mrs Sitharaman handled commerce and corporate affairs' portfolio and later elevated to head the defence ministry. She defended the government during the Rafale combat jet controversy. She was first elected to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh and later from Karnataka in 2016.

Pralhad Joshi: He was part of the pool (as of 2014) which helped the Lok Sabha Speaker by chairing the House proceedings when both Speaker and deputy Speaker were away from the House. Mr Joshi first made headlines as Sanchalak of Rashtradwaja Horata Samiti and demanded hoisting of the national flag on Idgah Maidan (also known as Kittur Rani Chennamma maidan) in Hubballi during 1992-1994. Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the Karnataka High Court order, restoring ownership of the controversial piece of land to Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC).

Suresh Angadi: Elected to the Lok Sabha for the fourth consecutive time, Mr Angadi, 64, is the Lingayat face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bombay-Karnataka region. He has never lost any elections ever since he entered electoral politics.

Next Story