Another cabinet reshuffle on the cards: KPCC Chief Dinesh Gundu Rao
Bengaluru, Jun 15: Amid simmering discontent within the Congress in Karnataka over the induction of two Independent MLAs into the coalition government's ministry, the party's state unit chief Saturday said a "reshuffle will definitely happen", and several senior leaders will be "taken into confidence".
This comes a day after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy expanded his cabinet by inducting R Shankar and H Nagesh into the ministry, in an apparent move to give stability to his 13-month old wobbly JD(S)-Congress coalition government.
The two Independent legislators were inducted into the minister overlooking the claims of several senior leaders, particularly in Congress, who are sulking ever since they failed to make it to the ministry earlier.
Other than Siddaramaiah and top ministers, most of the Congress leaders and senior legislators such as H K Patil, B C Patil and Sudhakar who are ministerial aspirants, had skipped Friday's swearing-in ceremony, giving credence to reports of a growing discontent.
Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters here, "Reshuffle will happen definitely... Most probably in about six to eight months the process of reshuffle will begin and many who have not got the opportunity, including several seniors, they will be taken into confidence."
"Evaluation of ministers' performance and representation will be looked into and decided (during the reshuffle)," he said.
Terming the induction of Independent MLAs into the state cabinet as "most unfortunate," B C Patil, the Congress MLA from Hirekeru, said that he is discussing future move with other legislators and friends.
Hitting out at the Congress state leadership, he said, "It looks like saving the government is more important than saving the party. If the party survives there will be government."
Pointing out that the Congress won only one seat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Patil said rather than legislators who worked for it, Independents who won against the party were being given berths.
"I'm unable to understand the logic behind it," he said, claiming that Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had given assurance that he would be made minister after the general elections.
Noting that Patil might have spoken out of "disappointment", state Agriculture Minister N H Shivashankar Reddy too said a cabinet reshuffle was on the cards.
"It has already been decided that after some time, sitting ministers should make way for new faces, during which he (Patil) may be accommodated," he said.
The cabinet expansion on Friday was seen as a move to ensuring that the two Independent lawmakers don't jump the ship once again and move to the BJP, affecting the stability of the government.
Shankar was inducted from the Congress' share and Nagesh from the JD(S) quota in the ministry. Under the coalition arrangement, out of the total 34 ministerial positions, Congress and JD(S) have 22 and 12 berths respectively.
Prior to the expansion, three posts were vacant-- two from JD(S) and one from Congress. There is still one post vacant in the JD(S) share.
Faced with a rout in the Lok Sabha polls and growing disgruntlement within, the coalition leaders, after a series of negotiations, had decided to fill vacant posts in the cabinet.
An increasing number of cabinet berth aspirants in the Congress is worrying the coalition leaders, as this may once again lead to disgruntlement and cause disturbance in the smooth functioning of the government.
Meanwhile, dismissing reports about his resignation as state Congress chief, Rao said, he has not written any letter to the party high command as being reported, and his continuation as the party's state unit chief is left for the Congress leadership to decide.
Rao was conspicuous by his absence at the cabinet expansion on Friday.
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Bus helper held for stealing USD 1,600 from Iranian woman's purse in Delhi; money recovered
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a bus helper and recovered USD 1,600 that was allegedly stolen from the purse of an Iranian woman who had forgotten it on a private bus at ISBT Kashmere Gate, an official said on Sunday.
The incident came to light on December 15, when a complaint was lodged at the ISBT Kashmere Gate police post by Dr Ali Akbar Shah, a professor at Delhi University and a resident of Mukherjee Nagar, the police said.
He informed police that his guest, Fareshteh Sayanjali, an Iranian national, had arrived in India on December 13 and was staying at his residence, they said.
The woman had travelled to Uttarakhand's Rishikesh and was returning to Delhi on December 15 in a bus. While de-boarding at ISBT Kashmere Gate around 1.45 pm, she inadvertently left her purse on the bus seat, the police officer said.
After some time, she received a phone call from the bus operator informing her that the purse had been found in the vehicle. However, when the purse was handed back to her, she discovered that USD 1,600 in cash kept inside was missing," the officer added.
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Based on Dr Shah's statement, an FIR was registered at Kashmere Gate police station on December 16, and an investigation was taken up, police said.
During the investigation, the team questioned the driver and conductor of the bus in which the woman had travelled, police said.
During questioning, the conductor told police that Monish, the bus helper, found the purse lying abandoned on a seat and handed it over to him, police said.
Monish initially attempted to mislead the investigators, but later confessed to stealing the US dollars from the purse, police said
Following his disclosure, Monish was arrested on December 17 and recovered the entire stolen amount, police said.
The accused, Monish, 26, is a resident of Jahangirpuri in north Delhi.
He has studied up to Class 10 and has been working as a helper with the private bus service for the past year, they said.
