No hurry to fill two vacant cabinet berths: Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said there was no immediate plan to allot two vacant cabinet portfolios to anyone and he would continue to keep those ministries with himself.

The two cabinet berths are lying vacant after Cooperation and Sugar Minister HS Mahadeva Prasad passed away earlier this month after suffering a heart attack, while Excise Minister HY Meti resigned over an alleged sex scandal.

“The two portfolios are with me. There is no immediate plan to fill the vacant cabinet posts,” Siddaramaiah, who is in the national capital to attend the national convention of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), told reporters here.

He also maintained that there was “no urgency” for a cabinet reshuffle.

Currently, the Karnataka cabinet comprises 32 ministers. In June 2016, a major cabinet revamp had taken place when 14 ministers were dropped and new faces were inducted.