Former Karnataka ministers Umashree, M R Seetharam, and ex-IRS officer Sudham Das nominated as MLCs

PTI, Aug 19, 2023, 7:13 PM IST

M R Seetharam (L) and Umashree (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Saturday nominated former ministers Umashree, M R Seetharam, and former IRS officer H P Sudham Das, as Members of the Karnataka Legislative Council (MLC), with immediate effect.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recently finalised the names and had recommended it to the Governor for approval. Four senior ministers had expressed reservations about the nominees and had written in protest to the Congress high command.

”In exercise of the powers vested in me by sub-clause (e) of clause (3) of Article 171 of the Constitution of India, I, Thawaarchand Gehlot, Governor of Karnataka, nominate the following three persons to be the members of the Karnataka Legislative Council, with immediate effect,” the official notification said.

The appointments are to fill in vacancies created due to the retirement of Mohan Kumar Kondajji, P R Ramesh, and C M Lingappa, after the completion of their tenure.

According to official sources, Seetharam is being nominated under the educationist quota, Umashree for her contribution as an actor, and Das for social work.

Umashree, who is said to be Siddaramaiah’s confidant, had missed a Congress ticket to contest Assembly polls from Terdal in Bagalkot district, while Seetharam is an educationist, his son Raksha Ramaiah is the national general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC).

Sudham Das, a former Enforcement Directorate (ED) official, had joined Congress, ahead of the Assembly polls. His name is believed to have been pushed by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. Das’s father H Puttadas was a former MLA from the erstwhile Sathanur constituency, which was earlier represented by Shivakumar.

Four senior ministers of the Siddaramaiah cabinet — G Parameshwara, K H Muniyappa, H C Mahadevappa and R B Timmapur — had recently written to the Congress high command, including AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and former President Sonia Gandhi, expressing their discontent, especially to the nomination of Sudham Das.

The Ministers — all four from the Dalit community — have said that they were not taken into confidence by the leadership before finalising the names, and have raised questions regarding Sudham Das, his contribution to the party, and his nomination as MLC overlooking others.