Ministry expansion: Cong-JDS panel to take call on Dec 5

The coordination committee of the ruling Congress-JDS coalition will meet here on December 5 and decide on the much-awaited cabinet expansion, its chief Siddaramaiah said Friday.

Also, Siddaramaiah, a former chief minister, along with state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao rejected reports about disgruntled Congress MLAs planning to skip the coming legislature session.

Siddaramaiah, who is the Leader of the Congress legislature party, said Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will be invited to a CLP meeting likely to be held on December 8 so that the MLAs can take up issues concerning their constituencies.

"We will expand the cabinet at the earliest. On December 5 we have called a coordination committee meeting, where we will discuss all issues - when to expand the cabinet... We will discuss in the meeting and take a decision," he told reporters here.

His comments come a day after Rao said the JDS-Congress ministry would be expanded before the winter session of the state legislature commencing on December 10.

Replying to a question on why Kumaraswamy, a JDS leader, was being invited to the CLP meeting, Siddaramaiah said: ...this is a coalition government, whom should MLAs tell about the issues concerning their constituencies- it is te Chief Minister. So we will invite him to the meeting."