Kumaraswamy divests Parameshwara of Home portfolio

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday divested Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara of the key Home Department and gave it to M B Patil as he allotted portfolios for new ministers from the Congress, seven days after their induction into the Cabinet.

The portfolios were cleared by Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the exercise had turned out to be tricky for the party state leaders, with the new inductees lobbying hard for plum departments and the senior ministers reportedly reluctant to shed their existing positions.

Parameshwara, who retains Bengaluru related affairs, has been given additional charge of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, earlier held by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Krishna Byre Gowda, along with IT and BT, Science and Technology, which was earlier held by Industries Minister K J George.

The youth Empowerment and Sports Department portfolio that Parameshwara had has been allocated to Rahim Khan.

Reports had said that the meeting between top party leaders in Bengaluru on Wednesday to decide on portfolios was not cordial as Parameshwara expressed displeasure over being asked to give up some key portfolios by Siddaramaiah.

However, both Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara had rubbished the reports that they had squabbled over the issue.

Another prominent Minister D K Shivakumar retains Major and Medium Irrigation and has been given additional charge of Kannada and Culture, while the Medical Education portfolio that he had has been given to E Tukaram.

Kumaraswamy expanded his six-month old cabinet on December 22, inducting eight members from the Congress in the much-awaited exercise, that has also caused heartburn among several ministerial aspirants, who have now openly given vent to their anger.

Two ministers Ramesh Jarkiholi, accused of hobnobbing with the Bharatiya Janata Party and R Shankar, an independent lawmaker who was reluctant to be an associate member of the Congress, were dropped in the rejig.

The new inductees were: Satish Jarkiholi, M B Patil, C S Shivalli, M T B Nagaraj, E Tukaram, P T Parameshwar Naik, Rahim Khan and R B Thimmapur, with seven of them picked from north Karnataka to address concerns of the region and counter the BJP in its area of influence.

Satish Jarkiholi has been given Forest, Ecology and Environment Department.

P T Parameshwar Naik has been allotted Muzrai, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood. Municipalities and Local Bodies has been given to C S Shivalli, Housing to M T B Nagaraj, and Sugar to R B Thimmapur.

Other than Parameshwara and Shivakumar, ministers who were relieved of additional portfolios include IT and BT, Science and Sugar from K J George, Skill Development from R V Deshpande, Housing from UT Khader, Law and Parliamentary Affairs from Krishna Byre Gowda, Muzrai from Rajashekhar B Patil and Kannada and Culture from Jayamala.

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No issues between Congress and JD-S, says Kumaraswamy

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday ruled out any issues between the ruling coalition partners, the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular even as voices of displeasure have emerged from his own party, the JD-S.

"There is no displeasure at all...do I look like one (who is displeased)?" he asked when reporters questioned him if JD-S workers and leaders were unhappy with the Congress on a host of issues, including appointment of heads to boards and corporations that is yet to be finalised.

"Some people are discussing some issues, I cant take responsibility for it," he said.

JD-S workers and local leaders have asked the leadership to contest all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the coming parliamentary polls, unhappy over the Congress' 'big brother attitude' in the ruling coalition in Karnataka.

Also, senior party leader Basavaraj Horatti had on Thursday alleged that the the Congress was violating coalition dharma and not allowing Kumaraswamy to function in peace.

Stating that there were no issues, the chief minister said that all decisions, including appointments to boards and corporations, would take place smoothly. Kumaraswamy was speaking to reporters after announcing that the 11th Bengaluru International Film Festival would be held from February 7 to 14.

The chief minister said the festival would henceforth be held from the first on Thursday of February of every year.

Officials said that 200 films from 50 countries would be screened at 11 theatres in the city during the festival and added that they had tried to bring down the cost by about 50 per cent compared to last year, without affecting the quality.

They said they were trying to bring down the cost this year to about Rs 3.5 crore from Rs 7 crore in 2017.