Cabinet expansion likely next month: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Dec 22: The long delayed cabinet expansion in Karnataka might take place next month, with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa indicating on Sunday that it may take place in mid January, around "Makar Sankranti."
"The high command has asked me to come after a week.Maybe by the end of this month we will finalise the list (cabinet expansion)," he told reporters after the oath taking ceremony of 13 of the 15 newly elected MLAs at Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat.
Asked whether the news of the cabinet expansion would come in Sankranti, he said "maybe by that time."
The Chief Minister said he needed time to carry out the rejig and expansion as he has to leave for Delhi and hold discussions with the party high command.
To a question on cabinet berths to the newly elected BJP MLAs, Yediyurappa said, "There are no differences of opinion on this issue with party leaders in Delhi.
We had promised the newly elected MLAs that we will make them ministers, which we will fulfill. There is no doubt about it.
Those who took oath as MLAs on Sunday were Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani constituency), Srimant Patil (Kagwad), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), B C Patil (Hirekerur), Arun Kumar Pujar (RaneBennur), Anand Singh (Vijayanagar), Dr K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapur), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), S T Somashekar (Yeshwanthpur), K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), Sharath Bachegowda (Hoskote), M C Narayana Gowda (KR Pet).
Two Congress MLAs Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar) and P Manjunath (Hunsur) did not take oath on Sunday.
Of the 13 disqualified MLAs fielded by BJP, 11 won the December 5 bypolls while two others M T B Nagaraj and A H Vishwanath lost the election.
The cabinet expansion would not be an easy task as Yediyurappa would have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious disqualified legislators as he had promised and also make place for old guards, upset at being "neglected" in the first round of the induction exercise.
He also has to give adequate representation to various castes and regions in his cabinet, that currently has 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister, and the sanctioned strength is 34.
Though Yediyurappa had made it clear that the 11 disqualified MLAs who successfully contested the bypolls on party tickets would be made Ministers, Nagaraj and Vishwanath are lobbying hard to get ministerial berths, said BJP sources.
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BJP will form govt in Bengal with thumping majority: Nabin
Mirzapur (UP) (PTI): BJP president Nitin Nabin on Wednesday voiced confidence that his party will form the government in West Bengal with a "thumping majority".
Polling is underway for 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, covering key districts, including Kolkata, Howrah and North and South 24 Parganas.
The high-stakes contest is being seen as decisive for the ruling TMC's bid for a fourth consecutive term and the BJP's push to form its first government in the state. The first phase held on April 23 recorded a high voter turnout of over 93 per cent, reflecting intense electoral engagement.
Speaking to reporters in Mirzapur, Nabin said, "The BJP will form the government in Bengal. We are winning the elections with a massive majority."
Earlier in the day, the BJP chief visited the Vindhyavasini temple and offered prayers. The rituals were conducted by his priest Acharya Agastya Kumar Dwivedi.
On his first visit to the district after assuming office, Nabin was welcomed by party workers at several places. At the temple, he was received by city MLA Ratnakar Mishra and District Magistrate Pawan Kumar Gangwar, who felicitated him with a traditional 'angvastram'.
After offering prayers for about 10 minutes amid Vedic chants, Nabin held a meeting at a hotel with local MLAs, including Mishra, Majhwan MLA Suchismita Maurya and Madihan MLA Ramashankar Patel.
Patel said Nabin emphasised strengthening the organisation and asked public representatives to focus on serving people in their respective constituencies.
Several party leaders, including district president Lal Bahadur Saroj, district vice-president Gaurav Umar, municipal chairperson Shyam Sundar Kesari, women workers and senior officials, were present on the occasion.
Elaborate security arrangements were put in place by the district administration for the visit, with multiple officers of circle officer rank deployed, officials said.
