Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday that ministers in his cabinet will be assigned portfolios shortly, after the opposition BJP raised the issue in the state assembly.

The CM made the guarantee in response to a question from former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP about the delay in allocating portfolios to ministers.

On May 20, Siddaramaiah and state Congress President D K Shivakumar were inducted as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively, and eight legislators were sworn in as ministers. Since then, no portfolios have been assigned to the Ministers.

As soon as the Chief Minister introduced his cabinet members to the assembly, Bommai interjected, saying, “Happy that the Chief Minister has introduced Ministers to the House, they have all worked as Ministers in the past”.

“Congratulations to the Chief Minister and all the Ministers, but it would have been appropriate if the Chief Minister had introduced Ministers after allocating portfolios to them saying — D K Shivakumar is Minister for this, G Parameshwara is Minister for this”, he continued.

“Why hasn’t it happened yet? It should be done as soon as possible, in my opinion, if it is done at the earliest it will be good”, he added.

In response, Siddaramaiah, while guaranteeing that portfolios will be assigned to ministers soon, noted that BJP leader BS Yediyurappa has previously served as the lone member of the cabinet for quite some time before inducting ministers.

“We will delegate authority to them as soon as possible. How long was BS Yediyurappa alone in the cabinet? Don’t worry Mr. Former Chief Minister (Bommai), they (Ministers) will be given responsibility as soon as possible”, he remarked.

Mr. Bommai responded, “Yeddyurappa was alone sworn in then, so was alone, but in this case, the Ministers have taken the oath. You make them Minister and don’t give them the responsibility, what will the people think? ”

“No one will think anything, if you the opposition don’t’ think otherwise it will be enough”, the CM responded.

Mr. Bommai stated that he was speaking on behalf of the Ministers, to which Siddaramaiah replied, “Thank you for your suggestion”.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are departing separately for New Delhi today, where they are anticipated to meet with Congress high command and discuss cabinet expansion, and allocation of portfolios to existing ministers.

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