No discussion on Cabinet rejig this time, says CM Bommai on visit to Delhi
New Delhi/Bengaluru, May 10: With his visit to the national capital raising hopes among ministerial aspirants about the expansion or rejig of Karnataka Cabinet, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said he will not be holding discussion in this connection with the BJP central leadership this time.
The Chief Minister, who arrived in New Delhi this morning, said he intended to discuss Cabinet exercise with the central leadership during the visit, but BJP national president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are not in town.
"I had intentions to discuss the Cabinet, but our president Nadda ji and Amit Shah are not in town, so after completing today's programmes, I will be returning to Bengaluru on Wednesday, as there is a Cabinet meeting," Bommai told reporters in response to a question in New Delhi.
The CM is under pressure from aspirants to expand or reshuffle his Cabinet at the earliest, ahead of Assembly polls next year.
Bommai, who met Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya earlier in the day, will be holding interactions with ambassadors of various countries in the evening regarding 'Invest Karnataka 2022' - Global Investors Meet, which is scheduled to be held in November.
"....I will be meeting ambassadors and diplomats of various countries to invite investors from those countries for the Global Investors Meet, followed by dinner. State's Industries Minister and his department is organising this meeting," he said.
Recently, Bommai had said that he is ready to go to New Delhi to discuss the Cabinet exercise, as soon as the BJP central leadership calls him. Also state BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa had hinted that the much-awaited expansion or reshuffle, may take place this week.
Amid murmurs in the BJP circles that a top-to-bottom overhaul of the Cabinet cannot be ruled out, ministerial aspirants are hopeful that a decision is likely soon regarding Cabinet expansion or reshuffle, and there are even talks that several incumbents could make way for fresh faces.
There are currently five positions vacant in the state Cabinet, which has 29 ministers, including the chief minister, against the sanctioned strength of 34.
Some legislators have even been advocating a Gujarat-like overhaul of the Karnataka Cabinet soon, to make way for new faces, ahead of the Assembly elections.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
