Bengaluru: In the past eight months, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka has accorded ‘cabinet-rank’ status to around 56 people outside his council of ministers, in what is seen as an attempt to placate dissenters or those sulking over being overlooked for a ministerial berth.
The people given this rank include advisers to the government — the CM has a legal, media, medical and even a ‘general’ adviser, apart from a ‘special’ adviser — as well as chairpersons of various boards and committees.
Along with 34 ministers in the Siddaramaiah’s government, 90 people altogether hold the cabinet rank in the state.
A cabinet rank comes with a staff strength of around 14 people, a house, an office, an official car with a police escort, and increased salary, based on the CM’s discretion.
The Opposition BJP has accused the Siddaramaiah government of ignoring rules to dole out the cabinet rank, pointing to the 2003 constitutional amendment that limits the size of the council of ministers to 15 percent of the lower house.
But the Congress denies this, saying the limitations refer only to ministerial berths.
A government official said “some people who have a cabinet rank… it’s only status and they do not enjoy any power.”
Speaking to ThePrint, senior Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa agreed, adding that most of these people with the cabinet rank only have status and do not enjoy any significant powers.
“According to the 2003 constitutional amendment, there are restrictions on the number of ministers… which is 15 percent of the total strength of the lower house. But the upper house was not taken into account. Giving out cabinet ranks is the CM’s discretion,” he added.
At least two people accorded the cabinet rank told ThePrint that their role was almost “powerless”.
Basavaraj Rayareddy, the newly appointed ‘economic adviser’ to the CM, said he does not avail of the additional remuneration or benefits accorded with the cabinet rank.
Political observers and leaders who spoke off the record said it was common to have four to five vacancies in the council of ministers to “placate any voices of dissent”. Since Siddaramaiah has a full cabinet, his only option is to give out cabinet ranks to keep any disgruntlement in check as the Lok Sabha elections draw closer, people aware of the developments said.
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Cabinet ranks given by Siddaramaiah
Under the Congress-led Karnataka government, 77 MLAs, four members of the legislative council and nine others have cabinet ranks as on date, according to government documents.
All 34 newly appointed chairpersons of boards and corporations have been accorded cabinet status.
In the second week of January, Siddaramaiah announced that a multi-level committee would be formed to supervise the effective delivery of the government’s flagship guarantee schemes.
This committee, he said, will have 31 members with the chairperson getting a cabinet rank. Its five vice-chairpersons would qualify as ministers of state.
Among other non-ministers who enjoy cabinet-rank status is poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, who is a ‘special adviser’ to the CM. Siddaramaiah also has two political secretaries, Naseer Ahmed and K. Govindaraj — both members of the legislative council.
Virajpet MLA A.S. Ponnanna serves as his legal adviser, while the CM’s long-time aide and former journalist, K.V. Prabhakar, is his media adviser.
The party whips in both the Upper and Lower House have cabinet ranks. The CM has appointed Dr H. Ravikumar as his medical adviser, and former IAS officer B.S. Patil as ‘Brand Bengaluru’ expert and an adviser on urban affairs.
Dr Aarathi Krishna was named the vice-president of the NRI cell and has also been given cabinet-rank status.
In the last week of December, Siddaramaiah announced that senior leaders R.V. Deshpande, Basavaraj Rayareddy and B.R. Patil had been given cabinet ranks. This came after the three made their disdain public over being overlooked for a ministerial berth.
Deshpande, a nine-time MLA, is now the chairman of the administrative reforms commission, while Rayareddy is economic adviser to CM. Patil is a ‘general’ adviser.
Apart from them, two representatives to Delhi — T.B. Jayachandra and Parkash Hukkeri — also have cabinet status.
‘Congress giving cabinet ranks to everybody’
BJP leaders have questioned the Siddaramaiah government’s decision to hand out the cabinet-rank status to so many people.
“With so many years of experience in politics, Siddaramaiah has appointed more advisers. For this government, the nose ring is heavier than the nose itself,” C.T. Ravi, a senior BJP leader, told ThePrint.
Under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, restrictions were announced on the size of the ministry, he said, accusing the Congress of “bypassing all rules to reward its people”.
A former cabinet minister himself, Ravi claimed that those with this rank get additional travel and dearness allowance, home, car, escort and a higher salary in addition to protocol benefits.
Former BJP MLA M.P. Renukacharya said “when (B.S) Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai were CMs, only two persons outside the ministry were given cabinet ranks”.
“Board chairpersons were given minister-of-state rank,” he added.
Renukacharya and D.N. Jeevaraj were political secretaries to both Yediyurappa and Bommai between 2019 and 2023.
“These people (Congress) have given out cabinet ranks to everybody and not given any respect to that status,” he added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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