Mangalore, May 18: In a historic move, the new Congress government has allotted four ministers from twin coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
While three of them-Bantwal MLA?B?Ramanath Rai, Mangalore MLA?U?T?Khader and Kaup MLA Vinay Kumar Sorake have been given the cabinet berths, Moodbidri MLA?Abhayachandra Jain has been given the rank of Minister of State.
Ever since the Udupi district was carved out of undivided Dakshina Kannada district in 1997, there have been four elections - in 1999 (Janata Party), 2004 (Cong-JD(S) &?JD(S)-BJP), 2008 (BJP) and 2013 (Congress) and for the first time three persons from DK have been made ministers by any government in the State.
While the J?H?Patel-led Janata Party government had only one minister (B?A?Moideen) from Dakshina Kannada district (Jayaprakash Hegde from Udupi), B?Nagaraj Shetty became the minister from DK in 2004 and Krishna J?Palemar was made the minister in 2008 elections.
However, the year 2013 proved lucky for three MLAs from the Dakshina Kannada, the highest number of ministers ever since the Dakshina Kannada district was separated from Udupi in 1997.
Taking Kaup MLA?Vinaykumar Sorake into account, the number of ministers in coastal districts would go up to four.
However, if you take the undivided Dakshina Kannada district into account, then the credit of giving highest number of portfolios goes to Veerappa Moily government (1992-94) when six MLAs from the coastal districts were made ministers. They include - Blasius D'Souza, Ramanath Rai, Manorama Madhwaraj and Vasanth Salian besides Veerappa Moily (Chief Minister).
Celebrations
The Congress leaders and party workers in Dakshina Kannada district erupted with joy as the district got its major share in the newly formed State cabinet on Saturday. The sense of expectation was naturally high as the district has given seven Congress MLAs in the recently held Assembly elections.
In return, three newly-elected MLAs from the district have been inducted in the ministry of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The party leaders and workers unanimously welcomed the moment when Bantwal MLA Ramanath Rai and Mangalore MLA U T Khader swore in as cabinet ministers and Moodbidri MLA Abhaychandra Jain swore in as the State Minister on Saturday. The party workers burst crackers in front of the District Congress office in Mangalore to celebrate the selection of three political leaders from the district as ministers.
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