A day after Mr Siddaramaiah was sworn in as chief minister, the action has shifted to Delhi with ministerial aspirants rushing to the capital and lobbying hard for Cabinet berths. Unperturbed by these developments, Mr Siddaramaiah not only postponed his Delhi visit by a day but engaged in a series of “stock-taking” meetings with principal secretaries of various departments in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
For now, the new chief minister is keeping the cards close to his chest and is likely to reveal them only to the party high command. If he had his way, Mr Siddaramaiah would surely pick two important portfolios — finance and water resources, said sources close to the Kuruba community strongman.
According to the sources, the new CM feels the state needs to get out of its fiscal deficit and instil financial discipline. In fact on the first day after assuming office, he had admitted that the state’s finances were in doldrums.
“It is time, we curbed wasteful expenditure and worked on resource mobilisation as there is still scope for more tax collection. We will give a Budget that factors in the Congress manifesto, which is realistic. The poll assurances can easily be worked on,” Mr Siddaramaiah said indicating he is serious about taking control of the state’s finances.
The man who gave the state seven budgets during his stint as finance minister in the Deve Gowda, J.H. Patel and Dharam Singh governments, is naturally inclined to keep the finance portfolio with him. His second pick would be water resources considering his fondness for irrigation schemes.