Karnataka woes for Rahul Gandhi: Senior Congress leaders revolt against cabinet expansion, rumours of possible defection

The Congress-JDS coalition is the state is reportedly set to face fresh troubles after the recent cabinet expansion. As per reports, several senior Congress leaders are unhappy over being denied a cabinet berth.

A day after senior Congress leader Ramesh Jarkiholi was axed from the HD Kumaraswamy cabinet, speculations of the Congress strongman quitting the party and joining hands with BJP has been gaining severe traction across the state. Ramesh Jarkiholi who is believed to have considerable support from fellow Congress MLAs may play spoilsport for the Congress-JDS coalition if he quits the party to join the BJP.

Interestingly, an audio clip of an alleged conversation between Ramesh and another person, reportedly a TV reporter, has surfaced triggering speculations about their defection to the BJP. In the audio, which has gone viral now, one person is heard asking a person claimed to Ramesh Jarakilholi whether he would resign as an MLA. The second person says it is confirmed and will resign in a week. He further added that he will not reveal the number of other disgruntled MLAs.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and seven-time MLA Ramalinga Reddy and his daughter Sowmya Reddy, MLA from Jayanagar are also reportedly unhappy after they failed to make the final list of newly inducted ministers. The father-daughter duo was expecting to be inducted into the cabinet, but both have been overlooked by the HD Kumaraswamy government. While expressing disappointment against their non-inclusion into the cabinet, Ramalinga Reddy said that forces within party scuttled his bid to become a minister in the government.

Soumya Reddy, the MLA from Jayanagar, also expressed her displeasure over her father’s exclusion from the cabinet. Soumya’s name was dropped from the final list of parliamentary secretaries. She had shared on Twitter that her father, a seven-time MLA and four-time minister, deserved a cabinet berth. She had also added that there are 15 Congress MLAs in Bengaluru today because of her father.

There were speculations of possible tussle and discontent among leaders of both Congress and JDS over cabinet berths as JDS, despite having only 17 MLAs became a part of the government and got the CM’s post.