Bidar: Once again, the possibility of local MLAs getting ministerial berths in the Congress government is bleak, with the possibility of both Bhalki MLA Ishwar Khandre, who belongs to the dominant Lingayat community, and Rahim Khan, who belongs to the minority community, joining the Siddaramaiah government.
Not surprisingly, Ishwar Khandre, who was municipal administration minister during the Siddaramaiah government from 2016 to 2018, and Rahim Khan, who was the state’s youth services and sports minister from 2018 to 2019, will get another term as minister.
There is a huge competition for a ministerial berth in the Siddaramaiah government. Moreover, the Lingayat and Muslim communities are no less than MLAs. However, Eshwar Khandre, a four-time MLA from Bhalki constituency and minister in charge of municipal administration and district in-charge in the Siddaramaiah regime, is now a politician representing not only the KPCC working president but also the all-India Veerashaiva Lingayat community. The fact that he played a key role in selecting Congress candidates from the Kalyana Karnataka region and making them MLAs will bring him closer to a ministerial berth in the Siddaramaiah government.
