G.T. Deve Gowda Displeased with Higher Education Department Portfolio

Following the settling of the dust that was kicked up by the state elections in Karnataka last month, allocations of ministry portfolios to the various ministers has not gone according to plan for the H.D. Kumaraswamy government. Of particular note is the hue and cry being raised by G.T. Deve Gowda, and those unable to understand how the Higher Education Department was put under his leadership. According to G.T. Deve Gowda, he hoped to be the recipient of another portfolio. According to his detractors, they see no way in which a man who has not completed a high school education can be suited to lead the Higher Education Department, a claim that G.T. Deve Gowda has refuted as rubbish because his strength lies in the administration side of matters, he said.

Of primary interest to G.T. Deve Gowda was the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj portfolio, which went to Krishna Byregowda. The former has stated that he will appeal to the senior party leaders of the JD-S to see if he can possibly be shifted to his portfolio of choice. This will be a tricky move in an alliance between the Congress and JD-S that was purely the result of trying to displace the BJP’s attempts to win the state. Krishna Byregowda is from the Congress party, and cross-party adjustments to portfolios already allocated usually end up leaving some ill will to be dealt with in such coalitions.

Karnataka has long had a history of being home to several top-notch higher education institutions, a fact that has been further cemented by the fact that IISc Bangalore features in the list of a handful of Indian universities to gain recognition in the world.