Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said they will soon fill up a vacant slot in the cabinet and are not going for a ministry reshuffle. Stating that he will soon talk to former minister Ramalinga Reddy, the former CM told reporters: “I had told him that he will be made minister during the reshuffle. Now we are not doing the reshuffle.” “Ramalinga Reddy will get the opportunity during the reshuffle,” he said.
Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy had recently held talks with the independent MLAs. Three ministerial berths, two from JDS quota and one from the Congress quota are vacant. Meanwhile, the former CM hit out at the BJP for not inducting Dalit MPs from Karnataka in the union cabinet. Siddaramaiah’s comments drew criticism from the BJP that asked him to make Mallikarjun Kharge the CM if he really has concern for Dalits.
The BJP took to social media platforms accusing Siddaramaiah of preventing Kharge and Parameshwara from becoming Chief Ministers. Siddaramaiah said he is not against making Kharge or Parameshwara chief ministers.