Cabinet expansion: The veiled discontentment
The very first labour of coalition government has borne great results. History has shown that even absolute majority governments often face challenging situations while distributing the power offices to MLAs, and this government is resting on a weak foundation in terms of coalition partners. Cabinet expansion is much like proving the trust vote second time over, just so that no one leaves your side and the government remains safe and sound. And just as it happens, dissidence too has set in among the berth aspirants who weren’t made ministers this time. Some had expected at least a handful of disappointed MLAs would go and join the other side that’s waiting for its chance. But with no such thing happening, those seeking some drama over this are being disappointed. The major achievement as of now is that the whole unit is staying together.
The baby of a cabinet that was born after this difficult labour, is healthy and happy. Even the mother is doing good! So this is a massive accomplishment. Dissidence in this context is running like an undercurrent now. CM Kumaraswamy has to continue functioning even amidst this chaos. Some MLAs in Congress have made their unhappiness over not being made part of the cabinet so evident that it can take the party by storm anytime now. As expected, Vokkaligas have got maximum seats in the cabinet. Even in Congress, the control indirectly exists in minister D K Shivakumar’s hands. Lingayats are in second position on this, while the man who spearheaded the Lingayat-separate-dharma movement in last government, M B Patil has been kept out of the cabinet. The Lingayat movement had created some massive strides in RSS circles because lakhs of people had come together demanding a separate religion tag for their community. This had created a massive division between Lingayats and Veerashaivas. Congress had to face the accusation of having tried to polarize in the name of separate dharma. Owing to the fact that Lingayats didn’t vote favourably for Congress, the party seems to have set this agenda aside for the moment and hence M B Patil has been ignored. Patil voiced his unhappiness rather openly too.
How will this influence the Lingayat movement in the coming days? Only time holds the answer for this. Another Congress leader Satish Jarkiholi, who is trying to build his own political force, has also been ignored in the new cabinet. Coming from a Dalit community, Satish has set up a secular brigade ‘Manava Bandhutva’ (Human bonds) and was a major aspirant of a berth this time. He is also economically very strong as well and can be a fit alternative for D K Shivakumar among the Dalits. Hence the Cong leaders are keeping Jarkiholi at a distance, by using his brother Ramesh Jarkiholi and made him the minister. Now obviously, one family cannot have two ministers! That’s a smart move. Almost inactive but influential leaders such as R V Deshpande have been successful in clinching a berth owing to their caste and economic prowess. U T Khader and Zameer have managed a berth each, representing coastal Karnataka. Having come from JD(S) Zameer had to be made the minister from Cong side, but one does wonder if he would have been given bigger responsibility had be stayed loyal to JD(S). H Vishwanath too is an aspirant in JD(S). He has played a massive role in defeating Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari. He has also been kept at an arm’s length now. Shamanur and H K Patil are among deserving ministers, but many others have been kept out of the berth. Datta should have been nominated to upper house. But all values have fallen flat before money power.
All those dissident voices are sure to blackmail the new government, with BJP using this to its advantage. CM Kumaraswamy will have to ensure he runs a government managing every elected representative. But then ever since he took oath, the second time CM has been busy conducting rituals after rituals and watching out for auspicious time for every government duty. Dalit leader Parameshwar who is the Deputy CM, has surrendered himself to Vaidika rituals completely forgetting the ideals of Ambedkar. The only ray of hope in this situation is Mahesh from BSP who has been given a berth. The community hopes he’d hold up their ideals for better future.
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Axar shifts focus to next IPL after KKR all but end DC's campaign
New Delhi (PTI): A beleaguered Axar Patel admitted that both his team's batters and bowlers let the side down after Delhi Capitals suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, virtually ending their IPL 2026 playoff hopes, while indicating the team had already begun looking ahead to the next season.
DC endured a miserable outing at home, managing only 142/8, which Kolkata Knight Riders chased down in just 14.2 overs, powered by a blistering unbeaten 100 from Finn Allen and his destructive stand with Cameron Green (33 not out) as the visitors tore apart the bowling attack.
With just eight points from 11 matches, DC are eighth on the table, while KKR revived their playoff hopes with a resurgent run, moving to seventh with nine points from 10 outings, though their road to the knockouts still remains difficult.
"For now, we'll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there's still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. So we'll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take," said Axar after the match.
"Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make," he added, hinting at a possible major overhaul next season.
With 200-plus totals becoming the norm this season, 142 was always going to be inadequate, and Axar admitted the score was well below par while also pointing out at poor judgement shown by the spinners while defending the modest total.
"I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors.
"At the same time, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that's where the momentum slipped away from us. That's probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK...we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling," he added.
He admitted the solutions to the issues could be found but players need to show the right mindset and character.
"See, you can't solve it in a complicated way. So, I think it's more about applying the right mindset. Even if you lose one or two wickets, you can still spend time at the crease and play through it. I think that's what needs to be applied, when wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two," opined Axar.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane was pleased to see a struggling Finn Allen finally rediscover his touch with the bat.
"I'm really happy for Finn Allen. He was struggling first four or five games, working really hard, but the way he batted tonight was fantastic. But I want to praise our bowlers again.
"We did well because of them. And they've been doing it so well consistently, especially those middle overs and the death overs. Our spinners, Sunil Narine, Varun (Chakravarthy) and Anukul Roy, have been fantastic," he said.
"Fielding-wise, yes, we are working really hard. Our fielding coach has been really strict with us. And that's what has been helping us. The result which you've been seeing about the catches and the ground fielding, credit goes to our fielding coach as well," he added.
