Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son, Priyank Kharge, who is the minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) in Karnataka has also been tasked with the responsibility of the Information Technology and Bio Technology (IT & BT) department.
This came after chief minister Siddaramaiah made minor changes and re-allocated some portfolios in his cabinet on Wednesday. Large and medium industries minister M B Patil will now be in-charge of infrastructure development as well.
Both these portfolios were held by the CM earlier.
READ | Minorities all are feeling like second-grade citizens, says Priyank Kharge
Patil was originally assigned the IT & BT portfolio along with industries. However, seeing as Kharge has held the portfolio in the earlier Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, another revision was made and the department was assigned to him along with RDPR, sources told news agency PTI.
Patil was keen on the IT & BT portfolio and reportedly opposed this move, which is why Siddarmaiah had kept the portfolio with himself, the agency added.
Kharge was in the news on Wednesday after he backed senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statements on alleged discrimination faced by Muslims in the country today, while he was speaking at the ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’ event in San Francisco.
“Don’t you feel that minorities, Dalits and tribals are feeling insecure? SCs, STs, backwards, and minorities all are feeling like second-grade citizens in the country. Kindly have a look at what happened in Karnataka recently, with the Azan ban, jhatka cut and other issues that the BJP brought up,” Kharge had said.
(With inputs from PTI)
