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Bengaluru: The process of appointing members to various state-run boards and corporations in Karnataka has been delayed as internal conflicts within the Congress persist. Despite a late-night meeting on Tuesday held by AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala to deliberate on the appointments, no consensus was reached, according to party leaders familiar with the matter.
Deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the ruling party is set to conduct further discussions next week to finalise appointments to state-run entities. The compiled list will then be submitted to the party’s high command for approval.
“Even today (Wednesday), Surjewala held discussions. Some of our leaders are also in conversation with him. We have also sought the opinions of senior leaders and legislators. We have sought the opinions of some senior leaders and legislators as well. Meanwhile, chief minister Siddaramaiah and I will be heading to Telangana for election campaigning,” said Shivakumar.
He said Surjewala is scheduled to return to the city on November 28, after which the final list will be prepared and sent to Delhi.
The delay in finalising the list is attributed to discontent among some MLAs who, desiring cabinet positions, expressed dissatisfaction with appointments to corporations. To address these concerns, Congress leaders consulted its disgruntled senior MLAs during the meeting.
However, efforts to address discontent were met with challenges, as seen in the case of former minister and Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy, who declined an offer for a prominent corporation post. Rayareddy was summoned to the meeting and was reportedly offered the post of a prominent corporation, but denied it. “I’m not interested in boards and corporations and there is no need for it. I had come to meet the CM over some development issues. We also discussed the Lok Sabha elections,” Rayareddy said.
The chief minister has maintained that legislators would be given first preference and appointed as heads of boards and corporations, while Shivakumar was keen on issuing appointment orders to party workers and leaders. Two leaders have given separate lists of candidates for appointments
On home minister G Parameshwara’s alleged discontent over the non-inclusion of his supporters in the list, Shivakumar dismissed such speculations. He said that considerations for appointments were based on seniority. “He (Parameshwara) is home minister, he was on a tour and had some work, why should he be upset? What is there to get upset about? Why are such unnecessary things being created?” he asked.
Hitting back at BJP over its allegation that Congress, which came to power six months ago, delayed appointments to posts in boards and corporations in order to “auction” them, Shivakumar said, “Why did they (BJP) not do it (appointments) while in power? We are at least appointing now, when did they do? Unnecessarily they are commenting. They could not even fill up four Ministers posts and had kept them vacant.”
The BJP in a post on ‘X’ alleged, “Siddaramaiah government that systematically manages the transfer business (cash for postings) over phone, was waiting so far to auction boards and corporations posts. Surjewala has now come and is holding discussions on the process of auctioning the posts, which was postponed earlier, as dealings could not happen properly.”
“As a result, the amount for the posts of Boards and Corporations has again come for up discussion,” the principal opposition party in the State claimed.
Within the Congress party, there is growing impatience among legislators and party workers who have not been rewarded despite the party being in power for six months. Shivakumar assured that both legislators and party workers would be appointed to these positions, with around 15 to 20 party MLAs and MLCs expected to be accommodated, while the remainder would go to loyal party workers.
(With PTI inputs)
Karnataka: Appointments to state bodies delayed amid Congress ‘rumblings’ – Hindustan Times
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