Women's Cabinet berth turns into fresh flashpoint in Karnataka Cong

Bengaluru, Oct 20 (UNI) The demand for women's representation in the Karnataka Cabinet has opened another front in the tussle between Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, with rival camps reportedly pushing competing candidates for two vacant ministerial berths. The prolonged absence of women in the 33-member Cabinet has put the Congress government on the defensive, turning a question of gender representation into a test of political influence, caste equations and competing interests within the ruling party. The controversy has intensified following the resignation of Soumya Reddy as Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress president, which has drawn renewed attention to the…