On Thursday, throwing a major surprise, the union cabinet reshuffled dropping Kiren Rijiju as the Minister of Law and Justice and was appointed as Minister of Earth Sciences.

Union cabinet minister Arjun Ram Meghawal has been assigned the law ministry as the MoS(Independent in-charge).

Meghwal is the current Minister of state for Parliamentary affairs and Culture in the Narendra Modi led government at the center. Law ministry is an addition to his existing portfolios.

The announcement was a made after a press statement was released by the Rasthrapati Bhavan.

The statement read that the President of India has taken the decision to direct the reallocation of portfolios among Ministers in the Union Cabinet after advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The decision comes after tensions between Rijiju and the Supreme Court Collegium surfaced over his objection to electing of judges through voting.

Minutes, after the announcement of reshuffle was made Rijiju changed his Twitter bio.

Rijiju held the charge of Union Law Ministry since July 8, 2021 when he replaced Ravi Shankar Prasad.

He earlier assumed portfolio of the Ministry of State (Independent Charge) of Youth Affairs and Sports from May 2019 to July 2021. He also served as the Minister of State for Minority Affairs during this period. 

Rijiju is a Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal West constituency who also served as the Minister of State for Home Affairs (India) in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019. 

Arjun Ram Meghwal, a senior leader of the BJP from Rajasthan, formerly served as the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, is an MP from Bikaner, Rajasthan, who first got elected in 2009.

The decision of allocating the heavy Law Ministry portfolio to Meghwal is being seen as a move taken keeping the Rajasthan elections in view that is due in the end of this year.

After four days of impasse over the decision of the next chief minister of Karnataka, finally early on Thursday morning the decision was finalized, reports surface.

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah has been finalized as the next chief minister of Karnataka with DK Shivakumar as his sole deputy, claim reports.

The decision came after a series of meetings late on Wednesday night.

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge who has been holding a parlay of meetings since the party’s victory last Saturday, is said to have taken the final decision.

In the wee hours of Thursday morning, Kharge finally breaking the political deadlock between the senior-most leaders of Karnataka, came into a consensus to name Siddaramaiah as the state’s chief minister, while giving the deputy cm’s post to Shivakumar, claimed reports.

No official communication has been made yet from the Congress’s side.

Reports said , DKS has convened a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting at around 7 PM in Bengaluru today, where he will propose Siddaramaiah’s name as the new CLP leader. An official confirmation is expected after the CLP meet.

As per reports, the early morning meeting on Thursday was chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge, which was attended by Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, general secretary(organization) KC Venugopal and both the aspirants for the CM Post.

The Congress has also finalized the date for the oath taking ceremony scheduled for 20 May, Saturday. The ceremony is to be held at Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru in the presence of senior Congress leadership and the party’s chief ministers of other states, said reports.

Mallikarjun Kharge is also reportedly to invite leaders from various opposition parties as to show the strength of opposition unity.

Earlier to the decision of DKS as the sole deputy, it was being said that there will be three deputy chief ministers in the state with one each from the Linagayat, Muslim and Dalit community of the state.

Stalemate between the Congress top brass and Karnataka unit chief DK Shivakumar continues over the Chief Minister post as latter has reportedly turned down several offers made to him by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.

Quoting sources, an NDTV report said that Kharge and Gandhi made two offers to DK Shivakumar in a two-hour meeting at Delhi today but the Karnataka Congress leader turned down both options.

As per the report, the Congress high command offered Shivakumar the chair of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister—which he will not share with anyone, and six ministries of his choosing. He would also continue to head the state unit of the party.

Another offer pitched by the Congress was the idea of power sharing between Siddaramaiah—who the party seems determined to hand a second term as Chief Minister—and Shivakumar.

This would’ve meant that Siddaramaiah would head the government as Chief Minister for the first two years and then Shivakumar would ascend to the top post for the next three years.

However, the option was reportedly turned down by both leaders as both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah want a shot at the Chief Minister’s chair first.

According to reports, Shivakumar has been adamant on becoming the next chief minister of Karnataka citing his work in rebuilding the party in the state over the last four years after the debacle of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government’s collapse which happened when a good portion of the party’s MLAs walked out.

Shivakumar is also a big name among the politically Vokkaligas while Siddaramaiah is backed by the AHINDA—a traditional Congress vote bank that consists of minorities, Other Backward Classes, and Dalits.

Earlier, another media report, quoting sources, had claimed that Siddaramaiah will be next chief minister of the state and state party chief DK Shivakumar will be his deputy.

According to an India Today report, after days of deliberating, the Congress high command has finally made up their mind and green-lighted Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister of Karnataka with DK Shivakumar likely to be given the deputy CM responsibilities.

The report, quoting Congress sources, said that Siddaramaiah will likely be sworn-in on Thursday afternoon and will take the oath alone.

A Congress legislator party meeting will also be called tomorrow at Kanteerava Stadium around 3.30 pm, the report said.

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were the main contenders for the state’s top post after the grand old party registered a thumping victory in last week’s Assembly elections by winning 135 out of the 224 seats.

Shivakumar, who along with Siddaramaiah, was the backbone of the Congress campaign that ousted the BJP from power in the recently held elections, is likely to be offered coveted portfolios along with the Deputy CM chair, the report said.