Bengaluru, March 17 A group of senior Congress legislators met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday, urging a cabinet reshuffle to provide them an opportunity to serve as Ministers.
The group of about 40 legislators, who have been MLAs for over three terms, have planned to go to New Delhi together on April 11 after the by-elections, to meet the Congress high command and discuss inducting at least 20 of them during the reshuffle.
The legislators, who met Siddaramaiah at his office in the Legislative Assembly premises, included H C Balakrishna, N A Haris, Ashok Pattan, S N Narayanaswamy, M Y Patil, D G Shanthana Gowda among others.
The meeting followed a dinner on Thursday night where most of these ministerial aspirants discussed mounting pressure for the much-awaited state cabinet rejig.
Speaking to reporters, Balakrishna said they urged the CM to give an opportunity to 20 new faces during the cabinet rejig.
"More than 40 senior legislators have won more than three times. We met the Chief Minister. During the cabinet formation after the 2023 elections, the high command, the CM and the Deputy CM (D K Shivakumar) stated there would be a reshuffle after 2.5 years. Accordingly, we urged the CM to rejig the cabinet and given an opportunity to any of the 20 MLAs among the 40," he said.
Flanked by Haris and Ashok Pattan, Balakrishna said they plan to meet the Congress high command after the April 9 Assembly by-polls for the Bagalkote and Davangere South segments, and elections in other states, to request an opportunity to become Ministers.
He said, "The Chief Minister said that he too will speak to the Congress high command."
Pattan said Siddaramaiah conveyed his plans to go to New Delhi after these polls.
On the leadership change issue, both Balakrishna and Pattan said it is for the high command to decide.
Haris said, "we have placed our request, stating that regig has to happen as told after the polls. The Chief Minister told us that he would speak to the high command after the bypolls."
Asked about dinner meetings by first and second time MLAs with a similar demand for Minister post, Balakrishna said, "They have the right to place their demand, we have put forward our demand."
Some first and second-time legislators have also recently pressed for a cabinet reshuffle.
The meeting with MLAs came a day after the CM met some of his cabinet colleagues (about 14 of them) over dinner, triggering speculation amid the ongoing power tussle in the Congress.
The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation of a possible change of chief minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, 2025.
The speculation has been fuelled by a reported "power-sharing" arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar at the time of government formation in 2023.
According to party sources, while Siddaramaiah favours a cabinet reshuffle, Shivakumar wants the party to decide on the leadership change.
According to several party insiders, if the Congress high command approves the cabinet reshuffle, it would signal that the incumbent chief minister Siddaramaiah will complete his term, which will scuttle the chances of Shivakumar from occupying the coveted post.
A section of Congress MLAs has been pushing for a cabinet rejig for some time, with several aspirants openly expressing their wish to be inducted. Karnataka has a sanctioned strength of 34 ministers, including the chief minister.
Two cabinet berths are currently vacant — following the resignation of B Nagendra over allegations of embezzlement at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, and the sacking of K N Rajanna on the instructions of the party high command.