3 Cabinets to nurture Karnataka Congress

BANGALORE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greased the Congress��� squeaking wheel in Karnataka with two more ministerial berths, leading the lumbering outfit in the state to hope that the lavish reward will help transform it into a mean machine.

M Mallikarjun Kharge and K H Muniyappa, both Dalit leaders, were on Wednesday named for inclusion in the council of ministers to join Veerappa Moily and external affairs minister S M Krishna.

Mr Kharge has been made a Cabinet minister while Mr Muniyappa, who held the road transport portfolio in the previous government, will continue as a minister of state. Mr Krishna is a member of the Rajya Sabha while his other ministerial colleagues from the state won elections to the lower house.

R V Deshpande, the president of the Karnataka unit of the Congress, interpreted the prime minister���s munificence as an attempt to revitalise the party in a state where successive losses to the BJP have hit its morale.
The Congress continued the miserable run it began in Karnataka in 1999, winning just six out of the 28 parliamentary seats in the state. The BJP bagged 19 seats and the Janata Dal (Secular) won from three constituencies .

Oscar Fernandes, who was minister of state for labour with independent charge, finds no place in the new regime. Former chief minister N Dharam Singh, too, has been ignored.

Pleased with the disproportionate reward, Mr Deshpande said he was extending a ���hand of friendship��� to B S Yeddyurappa and advised the chief minister to ���stop his refrain about step-motherly treatment to Karnataka by the Centre. Enough is enough,��� he declared.

Suresh Kumar, Karnataka���s law and parliamentary affairs minister said the central government would have to first prove that it is not acting in an Orwellian fashion.

���During the past five years, the Centre has shown that it believes that all people are equal but some people are more equal than others,��� he complained . As examples, he pointed out that Karnataka had received less than its fair share of railway services and electricity from the Central pool.

The BJP, he said, would be willing to ���shake hands with the Congress��� provided the party���s central ministers ���show concern for the state.���

Mr Deshpande admitted that power in New Delhi must be tempered with responsibility. ���We must sit down with cool heads and meet the expectations which have been generated by having four ministers at the Centre.���