In a relief to seniors in the cabinet, the attempt of some Congress leaders to effect a ministry reshuffle in an election year was nipped in the bud, reportedly at the instance of chief minister Siddaramaiah. They wanted those who had completed four years in office to be dropped.
A source said party leaders had shared an agenda copy issued by their chief G Parameshwara in a WhatsApp group, to seek a cabinet reshuffle at the Congress coordination committee meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday, but AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh intervened and vetoed any discussion on the topic.
It is learnt that a leader from North Karnataka started speaking with reference to Congress MLC K Govindraj's dairy , and the need to revive the Congress party at the grass roots level. He spoke about the importance of drafting senior ministers for party work, with assembly elections due in 2018.
However, as soon as the reshuffle issue was raised, Singh intervened and put an end to it.A source claimed that Singh was under pressure from Siddaramaiah and some senior ministers, who conveyed their anger against the move at a separate meeting on Saturday.
CM Siddaramaiah, however, claimed the topic was not part of the meeting's agenda and dubbed it a "media creation". Energy minister D K Shiva Kumar said: "No party will risk undertaking a cabinet reshuffle in an election year.It's all mere speculation."
There were reports that the leadership was planning to pull out senior ministers who had completed four years in the cabinet, and deploy them for party work ahead of the 2018 poll. There are about 13 ministers in Siddaramaiah's cabinet who were inducted in 2013.
When one member wanted to know the party's stand on a change of guard in the state unit, Singh did not respond, a source said. "Perhaps the issue will be taken up with AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi after the UP poll," they added.
The leaders reportedly discussed the diary and observed that there were lapses on the part of the government to nail state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa in the corruption case. They were of the opinion that the Congress should come out with a booklet on scams and corruption charges during the BJP reign and campaigns to highlight them.
AICC leader B K Hariprasad and senior ministers R V Deshpande and M B Patil did not attend the meeting.
A source said party leaders had shared an agenda copy issued by their chief G Parameshwara in a WhatsApp group, to seek a cabinet reshuffle at the Congress coordination committee meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday, but AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh intervened and vetoed any discussion on the topic.
It is learnt that a leader from North Karnataka started speaking with reference to Congress MLC K Govindraj's dairy , and the need to revive the Congress party at the grass roots level. He spoke about the importance of drafting senior ministers for party work, with assembly elections due in 2018.
However, as soon as the reshuffle issue was raised, Singh intervened and put an end to it.A source claimed that Singh was under pressure from Siddaramaiah and some senior ministers, who conveyed their anger against the move at a separate meeting on Saturday.
CM Siddaramaiah, however, claimed the topic was not part of the meeting's agenda and dubbed it a "media creation". Energy minister D K Shiva Kumar said: "No party will risk undertaking a cabinet reshuffle in an election year.It's all mere speculation."
There were reports that the leadership was planning to pull out senior ministers who had completed four years in the cabinet, and deploy them for party work ahead of the 2018 poll. There are about 13 ministers in Siddaramaiah's cabinet who were inducted in 2013.
When one member wanted to know the party's stand on a change of guard in the state unit, Singh did not respond, a source said. "Perhaps the issue will be taken up with AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi after the UP poll," they added.
The leaders reportedly discussed the diary and observed that there were lapses on the part of the government to nail state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa in the corruption case. They were of the opinion that the Congress should come out with a booklet on scams and corruption charges during the BJP reign and campaigns to highlight them.
AICC leader B K Hariprasad and senior ministers R V Deshpande and M B Patil did not attend the meeting.