The Hindu : Karnataka News : Cabinet expansion before July 15

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 07, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Cabinet expansion before July 15

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JULY 6. The next phase of Cabinet expansion will take place before July 15, after another round of consultations with the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, the Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, said here today.

Speaking to reporters after a two-day visit to New Delhi, where he held talks with Ms. Gandhi and other Congress leaders, Mr. Singh said inducting 14 more Ministers was a major exercise that called for a decision-making at the highest level.

He had also met the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, president of the Janata Dal (S), which is the Congress' coalition partner in the State and thrashed out issues related to Ministry-making.

Mr. Singh said that Ms. Gandhi had expressed satisfaction over the Congress' performance in the recent Rajya Sabha elections.

He said that he would be visiting Delhi for another meeting with her before finalising the names of Ministers. Most of the Cabinet berths would be filled up barring a few which would be filled up later.

Mr. Singh welcomed the Railway Budget presented by the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, describing the latter as the "best after C.K. Jaffer Sharief."

This was a budget that did not burden the passengers in any way, apart from which Karnataka had a great deal to be thankful for — the approval for new Bangalore-Hassan railway line, the doubling of lines between Ramanagaram and Mysore, the announcement of three new rail routes, the daily Vegadhoots — Bangalore-Ramanagaram, Mysore-Dharwad and Chennai-Hubli. Apart from increasing connectivity between the State with New Delhi, Mumbai, and Rajasthan.

He said that the proposed allocation of Rs. 10 crore for rail security in Bangalore was an indication of the human face of the Railway Minister.

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