Two Independents to join Karnataka govt. Will it quell or spell more trouble?

Bengaluru: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy will expand his 13-month-old Cabinet in some time from now by inducting two independent MLAs to consolidate his grip over the JD(S)-Congress coalition regime which faces threats of exits from sections of dissident Congress MLAs.
Two independent MLAs – R Shankar (Ranebennur) and H Nagesh (Mulbagal) – will be inducted as ministers. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah is said to have extracted a commitment from Shankar that he will join the Congress as associate member ahead of his induction into the ministry. It is not known yet if the JD(S) has put any such condition to Nagesh, who actually won the polls on the Congress support.

As the CM made preparations for the swearing-in, the BJP leaders gathered near Vidhana Soudha to protest the Cabinet decision to sell land to JSW Steel in Ballari district. At Mysuru, however, JD(S) leader H Vishwanath met BJP MP Srinivasa Prasad sparking off all kinds of speculations, and giving some tense moments in the JD(S) camp. In Bengaluru, Congress MLA (Chikkaballapur) Dr. K Sudhakar said he would take a call on watching the developments after taking to his party leadership. The Congress MLAs, he said, were not in a position to face immediate polls to the Assembly in view of the recent drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls.

Seven-time Congress MLA R Ramalinga Reddy is unlikely to be inducted, they said, although Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah had said a few days ago that Reddy would be made a minister. He is keeping a low profile.

Though the idea behind filling in the Cabinet positions is to quell dissidence in the Congress, it is to be seen if the exercise douses the anguish among senior Congress MLAs or triggers a new wave of public resentment. Reddy, a former home minister, had recently said that Congress leaders had ignored seniors in their bid to woo newcomers, a reference to the importance the two independent MLAs are getting.

There are three vacancies in the cabinet, one of which caused by the death of Congress minister CS Shivalli and another by the resignation of BSP minister N. Mahesh. While there are two vacancies in the JD(S) quota, the Congress has one.

Shankar will take the berth that fell vacant owing to Shivalli’s death, while Nagesh will take the position vacated by Mahesh. It is to be seen if the JD(S) will keep one position vacant or fill it with party MLC BM Farooq, who met the CM this morning and apparently pleaded his case.

The JD(S) and the Congress leadership are, however, not worried about any imminent threats from the BJP. The BJP central leadership, it is learnt, is not in a hurry to topple the JD(S)-Congress regime, but it will not prevent if the regime were to fall on its own on account of internal fights and conspiracies. It is to be seen if sections of disgruntled Congress MLAs will switch to the BJP camp and weaken or topple the government. The BJP, said a second person, would welcome MLAs from the rival parties if they were ready to join without any condition, or without expectations of a cabinet position if the BJP were to form government later.

After the Narendra Modi-led NDA returned to power with a thumping majority, talk of the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’, aimed at getting MLAs from rival camps to switch over, has receded to the background, offering a breather to the JD(S) and Congress camps.