Bengaluru: With B Nagendra’s resignation as planning and statistics minister, chief minister DK Shivakumar has two vacancies in his council of ministers, but filling them could prove easier than managing expectations of those who miss out.The vacancies have come barely a month after 19 ministers were inducted on Aug 3, an exercise that left several senior aspirants disappointed despite Shivakumar’s appeal for patience. The latest opportunity has now revived claims from legislators who have waited for ministerial berths for years.Among those eyeing a place are M Krishnappa, TB Jayachandra, HK Patil, Lakshmi Hebbalkar and Dinesh Gundu Rao, besides several other MLAs who have been seeking ministerial responsibility for nearly two decades.Senior party functionaries said the immediate challenge for Shivakumar is to ensure the vacancies do not become a trigger for another round of discontent. “The Aug expansion created expectations that were impossible to meet. The two vacancies have now brought those expectations back into play,” a functionary said.The earlier exercise had led to open resentment. Indi MLA Yashavantharayagouda V Patil quit the assembly, Jayachandra turned down the pro-tem speaker’s post and accused the party of ignoring senior MLAs. Supporters of Krishnappa and his son Priyakrishna also protested outside the KPCC office and burnt photographs of the CM, while demonstrations and resignation threats were reported from several districts.This time too, dissent is already brewing. Krishnappa has maintained a stoic silence, but Jayachandra has made his displeasure clear, saying Shivakumar’s cabinet looks more like an “all-party govt” than a Congress cabinet, a remark seen as criticism of the prominence given to those who joined Congress from other parties over long-time party loyalists. Several other MLAs are also mounting pressure by meeting the party high command in Delhi.Then, there is the regional question. MLAs from Kolar and Chikkaballapur had protested the lack of representation for their districts. To calm things down, Shivakumar had reached out and assured them of opportunities in the future. They are now closely watching Shivakumar’s moves.The frontrunner for Nagendra’s slot is E Annapoorna Tukaram, Sandur MLA. Besides being an ST, the first-time MLA would address the party’s demand for a woman in the cabinet and would also address regional representation. Yet, Shivakumar is keen to pacify former CM Siddaramaiah, who is strongly backing Byadgi MLA Basavaraj Shivannanavar, a Kuruba like Siddaramaiah. He is also parallelly facing pressure from fellow Vokkaligas Krishnappa and Jayachandra, as well as Lingayat MLAs Hebbalkar and HK Patil.Political analyst Vishwas Shetty said: “The timing makes the exercise particularly sensitive. With BJP’s padayatra from Raichur to Ballari targeting the govt over corruption and Nagendra’s exit, any fresh unrest within Congress could give the opposition another line of attack. Shivakumar will have to ensure the exercise of filling the two vacancies does not reopen the wounds of the Aug expansion, especially given the small window to the 2028 polls.”
