Karnataka govt does U-turn on changing district ministers

BENGALURU: The state government did a quick U-tun after interchanging in-charge ministers of two districts on Saturday. The order (dated July 29) was issued, appointing Muzrai Minister Shashikala Jolle as Koppal district in-charge minister and Tourism Minister Anand Singh as Vijayanagara district in-charge. But within hours, the order was repealed and the two ministers were allowed to continue with their earlier responsibilities, as per the order issued on January 24. Jolle will continue to handle affairs at Vijayanagara, while Singh will remain the Koppal district in-charge.

The government seems to have passed the order in response to a demand from Anand Singh’s followers that he be made the district in charge of Vijayanagara. As Vijayanagara is his home district, and the government had earlier taken a conscious decision not to allot districts from where the ministers hail from, the government quickly withdrew the order. Also, soon after the order was passed, pressure started mounting on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from ministers to give them their home districts, sources in the government said.

In January, Bommai allotted his cabinet colleagues districts other than their home districts following instructions from the party high command. The new system was introduced with the thinking that ministers from other districts would be unbiased towards party workers and work towards improving the party. But some ministers had felt it would be difficult and time consuming to handle districts away from their hometowns. 

Now, with the Assembly polls nine months away, there is an increasing uneasiness among ministers that they will not be able to do justice to their allotted districts as they have to concentrate on their constituencies. But the high command is of the view that established leaders should develop a capacity to have their clout even outside their hometowns.