Cabinet expansion is CM's prerogative: Digvijay

Statement follows Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's assertion that he'd expand his cabinet after talking to Sonia Gandhi

As pressure from ministerial aspirants mounted in the ruling Congress, senior party leader Digvijay Singh today said that it was the prerogative of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to expand his ministry and the AICC does not interfere in it.

After a meeting of the state Congress coordination committee attended by Siddaramaiah and KPCC President G Parameshwara, Singh told reporters, “Cabinet expansion is the right of a Chief Minister where AICC doesn’t interfere.”

Getting a booster from the Assembly bypolls outcome which saw Congress win two of the three seats, including wresting one from BJP, Siddaramaiah had yesterday said he would expand his cabinet after talking to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Siddaramaiah has been under pressure to reshuffle and expand his ministry with the KPCC chief reportedly eyeing the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.

On creation of Deputy Chief Minister’s post, Singh said: “That is the prerogative of the Chief Minister. This is something that the Chief Minister and AICC President will look into.” Several legislators looking for a ministerial berth met Singh, in charge of party affairs of Karnataka, and pleaded their case.

Singh also said rural local body elections were due in the state and the party has to gear up to fight them as “this is our next political challenge”.

Singh also said the Chief Minister has been requested to look into the issue of e-commerce at the Coordination Committee meeting of the party. "Amazon, Flipkart are some of the companies which have really grown in the last few years, and e-commerce has become one of the major places for people to buy and sell," he said.

"The states earn revenue through VAT, where it has the authority to tax every transaction. I think the issue has to be resolved by the Karnataka government and our Chief Minister who is expert on issues of finance... he has to resolve this issue of taxing the companies, and the seller and buyers who are provided for the platform of e-commerce," he added.

Acknowledging the presence of Amazon in Bangalore, Singh said, "We would like it to continue, while at the same time the state does not lose its revenue." He said government has also been requested to facilitate the 4G connectivity in Karnataka as early as possible. Pointing out that the state IT Ministry had already prepared a digital governance programme, he said.

"We have requested the Chief Minister to launch the first digital governance on smartphone in Karnataka." "Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has been talking of digital governance which he was unable to do in Gujarat but Congress government in Karnataka would be the first to launch the digital governance on smartphone."

"Governance is a major issue and we would like that smart governance sho- uld be the hallmark of Congress party government in Karnataka," he added.