Siddaramaiah's dinner meet spurs cabinet reshuffle talk; CM asks whether it is an offence

With his scheduled dinner meet for cabinet colleagues here on Monday setting off wild speculations of a reshuffle of ministers, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asked whether such a gathering was an offence. The meeting also comes in the wake of speculations about a change of guard in the state when the Congress government reaches the halfway mark of its five-year term in November, which is being referred to by some as "November revolution". "Should we not meet? I can't understand. Listening to the BJP, you (media) have made our meeting over dinner an offence. Why are you asking then? We keep meeting always," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.

According to party sources, Siddaramaiah and his camp are pushing for a cabinet reshuffle. They said, any move by the Chief Minister to effect a cabinet reshuffle, as the government is about to complete 2.5 years in office, will be widely seen as a message that he is at the helm and will continue to do so. The action may come across as a setback for Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, who is known to be waiting to lay claim to the chief minister’s chair. Shivakumar had on Saturday played down speculations about the cabinet reshuffle in the state, calling it a "rumour" in the media. Preparations for upcoming taluk and zilla panchayat, also urban local body polls are likely to be discussed during the dinner meeting, party sources said. The CM may also want to discuss fighting corruption allegations, especially following the recent letter from the Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA) claiming that the quantum of commission or kickbacks, had “doubled” under the Congress government.