BENGALURU: With the
Lok Sabha polls
looming large, and a day after former CM and MLC
Jagadish Shettar
returned to the BJP,
chief minister Siddaramaiah
and the Congress government finalised the list of 34
MLAs
for the posts of chairmans to
boards and corporations
and released them.
The list of names which sans any party worker has meant that the Congress leadership have considered the opinion of chief minister Siddaramaiah to keep the legislators happy with prominent boards and corporation posts that includes cabinet minister rank status.
It is expected that the remaining “fringe” boards and corporations will be given to the party cadre. There are as many as 80 boards and corporations in the state.
While a majority of the legislators appointed to the posts are identified with the Siddaramaiah camp, a few key posts have gone to deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar followers.
Prominent among those who received the posts are MLA N A
Haris
, Roopakala Shashidhar, daughter of food and civil supplies minister K H Muniyappa, former JD(S) MLAs and now Congress legislators S R Srinivas and Shivalinge Gowda.
The biggest prize was the chairman of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) which went to Haris. A four time MLA from Shanthinagar, Haris was seen as one of the key Muslim community legislators who could have become a minister in the Siddaramaiah government. However, with the emergence of housing minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, Haris was sidelined and the
BDA chairman
post is considered as a “consolation” for the businessman-cum-politician.
This is followed by Srinivas who was allotted the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) to Shivalinge Gowda. Both the MLAs had jumped from JD(S) to Congress before the 2023 elections and are considered staunch supporters of DCM Shivakumar.
Meanwhile, Roopakala, daughter of Muniyappa, was given the Karnataka Handicrafts Industrial Development Corporation (KHIDC).
The two time MLA is being considered as a serious contender for a ministerial berth if and when a cabinet reshuffle happens and her father is dropped.
Them apart, the prestigious posts of Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Corporation Limited (KREDL) chairman was allotted to Sringeri MLA T D Raje Gowda and that of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) to Appaji CS Nadagouda, the five time MLA from Muddebihal in Bagalkote.
Congress loyalists including murder accused Dharwad MLA Vinay Kulkarni and Vijayanand Kashapannavar have been given the
chairman posts
for Karnataka urban water supply and drainage board and Karnataka Sports Authority.
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