Woman minister in Karnataka cabinet soon says, Randeep Surjewala

BENGALURU: AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday said the Congress leadership would soon resolve the issue of inducting a woman minister in the Karnataka cabinet, which currently has no woman representative despite the DK Shivakumar government completing 100 days in office.

Hitting back at Union minister HD Kumaraswamy who had jibed the Congress on this issue, he said, “I just want to remind those making a noise that they never had a Women and Child Development minister for a full tenure.”

Surjewala told reporters that he was to blame for the controversy. “This is not Delhi’s fault. It is the fault of the General Secretary, AICC in-charge of Karnataka, who could not decide on account of certain political exigencies.

We have many (aspirants)... so very soon we will sort out the issue after consulting with the Chief Minister, our PCC president who is very keen and hounds me every day on this, as also ex-CM (Siddaramaiah) and other state leaders,” he stated, adding that LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has also taken the lack of a woman minister very seriously.

Surjewala pointed to previous governments, saying that during the JDS-BJP coalition government, then CM Kumaraswamy had himself held the Women and Child Development portfolio.

Surjewala said the Congress government was committed to implementing the socio-economic and educational survey report in Karnataka, but would not take any step that violated court directions, as the matter is currently sub judice. He said social justice remained the party’s core commitment and was shared by Siddaramaiah, CM Shivakumar and party workers. The party would seek the court’s guidance on implementing the report at the earliest.

Responding to BJP leaders’ criticism of the government’s stance on singing specific stanzas of Vande Mataram, Surjewala argued that those raising objections were unaware of the historical context and the freedom movement. He recounted that Vande Mataram was first sung at an Indian National Congress session in 1896, and formally adopted as the national song in 1930.

He stated that leaders such as Dr BR Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had agreed on adopting two stanzas on the guidance of Rabindranath Tagore in the Constituent Assembly, which was accepted across the board.

The Karnataka government will strictly adhere to Government of India protocols during visits by the President, Governor or Prime Minister, while otherwise respecting the traditions framed by Tagore and the Constituent Assembly, he added.

GAYATRI SHANTEGOWDA HANDS RESUME TO SIDDU

Bengaluru: The political drama surrounding Congress MLC Gayatri Shantegowda’s stalled entry into the Karnataka cabinet came to a head on Wednesday with the legislator personally approaching former chief minister Siddaramaiah.

Multiple sources have pointed to Siddaramaiah as the driving force behind the exclusion, despite the Congress high command having reportedly cleared her name. On Wednesday, Gayatri handed Siddaramaiah a document. When he asked what it was, she reportedly told him it was her resume, which is seen as her continued claim to a cabinet berth.

She also spoke to AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal at the Congress office, after KPCC president B K Hariprasad introduced her to him. The apparent contradiction -- a leader cleared by the party’s central leadership still having to lobby for the post she was promised -- has fuelled criticism that state-level factional politics are overriding decisions made at the national level.