Karnataka: After cabinet expansion, Congress MLA's supporters demand ministerial post
The Karnataka government led by Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday carried out a cabinet expansion by inducting 24 new legislators, reported ANI. However, the list didn't include Congress MLA Rudrappa Lamani's name, following which his supporters staged a protest outside the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office in Bengaluru. Siddaramaiah was sworn in as Karnataka CM last week, with DK Shivakumar as his deputy.
Watch: Lamani's supporters protest outside Congress office
Gave 75% vote to Congress: Protesters
The supporters of Lamani, a Banjara community leader, alleged that his name was on the list of new cabinet ministers on Friday night but was removed on Saturday. "If our leader doesn't get the ministerial post, we will protest because we gave our 75% vote to Congress in the election, so there should be at least one leader from our community," the protesters said.
Only 1 woman managed to get ministerial post
This comes after supporters of Congress MLA D Sudhakar held a protest outside Siddaramaiah's residence on Wednesday, demanding a ministerial post for him. Sudhakar was later given the position. Notably, the Karnataka government can have 34 ministers, of which 10 took oath last week. On Saturday, 24 MLAs were sworn in, although, Siddaramaiah's cabinet has only one woman minister.
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