Health Minister UT Khader gets praise from Sonia Gandhi

Mangaluru, Jun 18: Amidst the rumours of Health and Family Welfare Minister UT Khader's removal from the Karnataka Cabinet in its fresh reshuffle, he has earned the praise of Congress high command.

According to highly placed sources, Mr Khader, who has topped a series of surveys conducted by various news agencies to assess the performance of ministers in the state, will continue to handle health portfolio even after the much awaited Cabinet reshuffle.

Sources said that AICC president Sonia Gandhi was impressed by the performance of Mr Khader in last three years.

Earlier, a section of Kannada media had reported that Shanthi Nagar MLA N A Harris will replace Mr Khader as the health minister.

However, a senior leader of Congress party, on condition of anonymity, rubbished the reports as mere “baseless rumours”.

“How can we drop a top performing minister? Some miscreants are spreading such rumours. UT Khader will not be dropped from the Cabinet,” he said.

In an exercise aimed at refurbishing the image of his government, Chief Minister Siddaramiah is all set for a fresh cabinet reshuffle within a day or two as Congress high command has reportedly given him a free hand to pick the new ministers.