BANGALORE, Nov 5: Hectic lobbying has begun in the ruling Janata Dal in the State with Chief Minister J H Patel giving indications about effecting a reshuffle of his Ministry sometime this month. While several legislators called on Patel last night and renewed their demand for accommodating them either in the Ministry or for appointing them as head of various boards or corporations, around 50 legislators called on former prime minister H D Deve Gowda at his residence ``Anugraha'' today urging him to recommend their names.

Gowda is understood to have told them that he would not recommend any name for either inclusion in the ministry or dropping any person. ``If you have come here to talk about the change in the leadership in the State, I am not prepared to entertain you'', Gowda is understood to have said.

However, Gowda invited suggestion from the them for toning up the administration and to enhance the party's prestige before sending them back.

According to sources in the Dal, Patel is likely to effect the reshuffle some time in the third week of November when he was supposed to touring abroad. Patel who has postponed his tour abroad, is understood to have instructed his secretariat not to fix up any official engagement for him during this period as he had to concentrate on the Ministry reshuffle.

Several legislators have complained to Gowda about Patel's style of functioning. ``He has left the elected representatives at the ``mercy'' of two senior bureaucrats close to Patel. He (Patel) is not available to us and each time we have to get things done through bureaucrats,'' they complained.

The current political activity in the Dal once again after a gap of nearly two months is bound to have impact on the political developments in the State. The dissident legislators, said a senior Dal leader, complained Deve Gowda and the State Dal Chief B L Shankar about the ``poor'' performance of the Patel Government.

Senior Janata Dal leaders were surprised about the increase in the number of dissidents from 20 to 50 during the last two months. The legislators are also said to have complained against some ministers' behaviour towards legislators. They accused several ministers of being ``self-centred'' and not concerned about their own party interests.

Meanwhile, Gowda is understood to have expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which Irrigation Minister K N Nage Gowda countered the opposition attack regarding the Upper Krishna Project contracts. Deve Gowda's opinion was that Nage Gowda had failed to give a correct reply to the charges levelled against him (Deve Gowda).Mines and Geology Minister S D Jayaram is also said to have been taken to task by Gowda. Gowda reportedly sized him up saying, ``You were made a minister considering your health and not on merit''.

The dissident legislators who called on Gowda included D Manjunath, Vaijanath Patil, P C Siddanagoudar, D G Hemavathy, N Rajanna, Chandrappa, Mahadeva Prasad, Nagappa Soloni, Karadi Sanganna, Chandrashekaraiah, Basavaraj Patil Attoor, C Gurunath, Chandrashekar Reddy Madan, Krishnamurthy, S R Lakshmaiah, Somala Nayak, Gangahanumaiah, Nanje Gowda, chandranna, Ashwathnarayana Reddy, R Krishnappa, Nagaraj, Thippa Reddy, Basavaraju, Thimmanna, Shivananda Patil, Anagoli, A B Patil, Jayavanth Asnotikar, Parameshwarappa, Putte Gowda, PrakashShivakumar, Vijaya Lakshimi and others.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.