Yathindra is the only minister from Mys region

Mysuru: On May 13, 2013, when Siddaramaiah was getting ready to head to his swearing-in ceremony as CM, his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah headed to work. He was not a wee bit interested in politics. But now, he is the only legislator from Mysuru who has got a chance to become a cabinet minister in the Shivakumar-led govt.

A two-time legislator — he was elected as an MLA from Varuna in 2018 and was nominated to the council in 2024 after he gave up his seat to his father in the 2023 polls — Yathindra has pipped senior legislators, including former district minister HC Mahadevappa, to become a minister.

Despite not being interested in politics, Yathindra took up the task following the death of his brother Rakesh Siddaramaiah in July 2016. He started his job assisting his father in handling the Varuna segment, and he faced criticism as he was not an elected member. Then CM Siddaramaiah nominated him as a member of a govt body, which allowed him to take care of the segment.

In 2018, when Siddaramaiah decided to shift to the Chamundeshwari segment, which he represented five times, Yathindra was fielded from Varuna, which he won. But after Siddaramaiah decided to return to the Varuna segment, Yathindra chose not to contest. Eventually, he was nominated to the Upper House in June 2024. “In Siddaramaiah’s second term, he learned the ropes of administration,” one of his close associates told TOI.

Meanwhile, senior leaders N Cheluvarayaswamy (Nagamangala, Mandya), HC Mahadevappa (T Narasipura, Mysuru), K Venkatesh (Periyapatna, Mysuru) and Madhu Bangarappa (Soraba, Shivamogga) have missed the bus.

Several others, including Tanveer Sait (Narasimharaja, Mysuru), PM Narendra Swamy (Malavalli, Mandya), C Puttarangashetty (Chamarajanagar), BK Sangameshwar (Bhadravathi, Shivamogga), Belur Gopalakrishna (Sagar, Shivamogga) and KM Shivalingegowda (Arasikere, Hassan), AS Ponnanna (Virajpet, Kodagu), are hoping to make it to the ministry in the next instalment. Madhu Bangarappa’s supporters are also confident that their leader will be continued in Shivakumar’s cabinet as his father, S Bangarappa, inducted Shivakumar into his cabinet in Oct 1990.

Even though the Congress functionaries are tight-lipped about the cabinet formation, most of them are unanimous in their conclusion that most of the senior leaders, including Mahadevappa and Venkatesh, are unlikely to be inducted into the cabinet unless former CM Siddaramaiah steps in, they claim.

“There is no certainty of a minister post for any senior lawmakers from the entire region. Shivakumar is not willing to induct many from his community into the cabinet to provide more representation to the lawmakers from other castes to strengthen the party support base, keeping in mind the 2028 election. If BK Hariprasad is appointed as the KPCC chief, the community may not get more representation in the cabinet. Cabinet is expanded based on these calculations,” the party insiders explained.

“Congress leaders from the Old Mysuru region also expect more representation in Rajya Sabha and state legislative council elections,” they added.