Daijiworld Media Network - Chikkaballapur (MS)

Chikkaballapur, Jun 15: "Congress high command has decided to give the ministerial berth to the dissident MLAs of the party in the next phase. All the present ministers in the cabinet have given our consent to resign in the next phase and we are ready for it," said Shivshankar Reddy, minister for agriculture.

Reddy was speaking to the reporters in the city. He further said, "Two independent MLAs are given ministerial berth in the cabinet. It is decided that all MLAs should get the opportunity to become a minister and time period for every minister is set. The party has decided that once the stipulated time period gets over, other new faces should be given opportunity to hold the office of minister."

"Some issues have occurred in abiding by the principles of coalition. However, we have made alliance with the JD(S) in order to keep BJP, a communal party, out of power. So these difficulties are unavoidable. We have to tolerate these and move forward." added Shivshankar Reddy.

Responding to the open protest statement of B C Patil on not getting the ministerial berth, Reddy said, "Patil should have been the minister. No one has got minister position from that part of the state. He has given the statement out of desperation.”