Bengaluru/New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reportedly asked for a free hand in choosing new ministers to his Cabinet when he met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday.

According to sources, Siddaramaiah along with Karnataka Pradesh Congress (KPCC) president G Parameshwara and AICC?General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Digvijaya Singh met Sonia Gandhi and requested that he should be allowed to induct 15 new ministers and drop as many ‘non performing’ ministers to improve the party’s prospects in the coming Assembly elections as well to speed up development.

It is also said that the Chief Minister requested Sonia to appoint a new KPCC president soon as Parameshwara’s tenure ended a year ago.

Congress sources said that the Chief Minister expressed his confidence in bringing back Congress back to power in the next Assembly elections in 2018.

The Congress President who heard chief minister patiently reportedly expressed her unhappiness over the party’s poor performance in the recent elections including just concluded legislative council polls, said sources.

It may be recalled that the reshuffle was pending since months after a section of MLAs in the party demanded that the CM should give opportunity to loyal leaders to serve as ministers. It was put off due to various reasons including drought. A section of MLAs are reportedly camping in New Delhi to impress the party’s top brass.