Bangalore: There are celebrations in Bangalore over a ministerial berth to Mallikarjun Kharge --one of four ministers from Karnataka.
Gurulinga Jewargi Hiremath, a resident of Gulbarga, says: "We are very happy, our Hyderabad-Karnataka region, our whole Gulbarga is very very happy."
Six MPs and 4 Ministers - it is a bumper crop of ministers for Karnataka, a state which used to be a Congress fortress, but long ago.
Says H K Ranganath, editor of Kannada Prabha: "Post-emergency days, the Congress would get a bumper of 27 MPs out of 28. Those were the days the Congress took Karnataka for granted. But of late, there has been a rethink that unless you do something with Karnataka, the party may not be able to recoup."
Karnataka, which always seems to vote for a party not in power at the Centre, might gain with the Delhi presence of Krishna, Kharge, Moily besides K H Muniyappa. But at the grassroot level, the party seems in need of an all-new approach to counter the state's ruling BJP.
Says Dhananjay Kumar, BJP's special representative: "Even if they give some more berths in central Cabinet, I don't think it will help Congress to regain lost ground in Karnataka. Because the BJP is on a very strong note here. BJP government is doing well."
The UPA Government's bonanza might be advantage Karnataka. But will it be advantage Congress and revive the fortunes of a party that has lost its sheen in the state?