Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has finally set the date for filling the vacant cabinet posts. The three new ministers would be sworn in on Friday at 5pm.
Governor Vajubhai Vala will administer the oath of office at Raj Bhavan, sources with the Congress told TNM.
Legislative Council members HM Revanna, RB Thimmapur and MLA Geetha Mahadeva Prasad are likely to be inducted in the cabinet.
The posts of the Home Minister, Excise Minister and the Cooperation and Sugar Minister were lying vacant.
The current KPCC President, Dr G Parameshwara quit his post as the Home Minister after the party High Command decided that he would concentrate on election campaigning.
HY Meti, who earlier held the Excise portfolio, resigned after a sex tape showing him in a compromising position surfaced in the media in December 2016. The post has been lying vacant since.
In December 2016, the Cooperation and Sugar Minister, Mahadeva Prasad passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest and this ministerial berth has also been lying vacant.
According to the Congress source, HM Revanna, a leader of the Kuruba community, has been chosen to replace HY Meti, a Kuruba strongman from Belagavi.
“RB Thimmapur has been chosen to replace Dr Parameshwara as he comes close to being a Dalit leader. Although Thimmapur does not have as huge a following as Parameshwara, he is also very popular among the Dalits. Geeta Mahadeva Prasad won the Gundlupet bypoll and took over the MLA post of her deceased husband. It only seemed fitting to choose her for one of the available portfolios,” the source added.
However, it is not yet clear which candidate will get what portfolio. Surprisingly, Thimmapur, who made headlines for falsifying addresses in order to vote for the mayoral polls, has been chosen as a candidate for a ministerial position.
Thimmapur was the Minister for Planning, Institutional Finance and Statistics in the SM Krishna government. HM Revanna had served as the Silk minister in the Congress government led by SM Krishna as well.
CM Siddaramaiah, who had recently visited New Delhi, held discussions regarding the Cabinet expansion with the party high command and AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, KC Venugopal before shortlisting the candidates.