With the Congress bagging eight out of the eleven seats in Mysuru district, speculation is underway over who will make it to the Ministry in the new government.
While none of the three BJP MLAs from the district – S.A. Ramdas, L. Nagendra and Harshavardhan — could make it to the Ministry in the outgoing BJP Government, Ministers from outside the district like Housing V. Somanna initially and Minister for Cooperation S.T. Somashekar later, were entrusted with the responsibility of Ministers in charge of the district.
While former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was elected from Varuna in Mysuru, is already in the race for the coveted post of Chief Minister again, other Congress MLAs from the district are also expected to be in the race for a berth in the Ministry.
Out of the eight Congress MLAs from the district, the front-runners for a ministerial berth include former Ministers H.C. Mahadevappa, who has been elected from T. Narsipura (SC reserved) constituency and Tanveer Sait, who has been elected from Narasimharaja Assembly segment. Mr. Mahadevappa had earlier held portfolios like Health, Rural Development and PWD while Mr. Sait had served as Minister for Labour and Primary and Secondary Education.
Ministerial berth
K. Venkatesh, Periypatna MLA, who had served as Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) chairperson earlier, has also thrown his hat in the ring. Speaking to reporters after his victory in the elections on Saturday, May 13, Mr. Venkatesh said that he too aspired for a Ministerial berth.
It may be mentioned here that Mr. Mahadevappa and K. Venkatesh have been long-time aides of Siddaramaiah while Mr. Sait is close to D.K. Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief, who is also in the race for the post of Chief Minister.
The other Congress MLAs from Mysuru district include Anil Chikkamadu from H.D. Kote, who registered his second successive win, and first-time MLAs like Darshan Dhruvanarayan from Nanjangud, K. Harish Gowda from Chamaraja and D. Ravishankar from K.R. Nagar.
Meanwhile, former Minister C. Puttarangashetty, who defeated Housing Minister and BJP candidate V. Somanna in the elections from Chamarajanagar Assembly constituency in neighbouring Chamarajanagar district, is also among the Ministerial hopefuls from the region. Mr. Puttarangashetty had earlier served as Minister for Backward Classes Welfare in the coalition Government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy in 2018.
