BSY to meet BJP central leadership to finalise portfolios of Ministers
Bengaluru, Aug 22: Faced with discontent in a section of the BJP over cabinet expansion, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday decided to meet the party's central leadership to discuss the issue of allocation of portfolios to the newly appointed ministers.
Some disqualified former legislators of the Congress and JDS who helped bring down the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy are reportedly piling pressure on the BJP, seeking their pound of flesh and plum portfolios.
"Today evening I will go to Delhi and meet our national President Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will come back tomorrow evening or the day after morning," Yediyurappa said.
Asked whether the allocation of portfolios would take place after his return from Delhi, Yediyurappa said: "Today we will discuss and take a decision".
More than three weeks after he was sworn in as the Chief Minister, Yediyurappa expanded his cabinet last Tuesday, inducting 17 Ministers.
He has kept 16 Minister posts vacant to accommodate some more BJP members and from among those 17 disqualified former legislators who helped him come to power.
Several BJP MLAs have openly expressed dissatisfaction over being left out of the Ministry.
Meanwhile, Yediyurappa said all his Ministers are currently touring flood affected areas and are assessing the situation there.
"There is some delay in the distribution of Rs 10,000 each to the affected families as immediate relief. I have ordered Deputy Commissioners that by today evening it should be completed 90 per cent," the chief minister said.
Stating that he has issued instructions for immediate construction of temporary sheds for those displaced, he said the ministers would come back and submit a report, following which the cabinet would hold a review meeting and if necessary, speed up relief and rehabilitation work.
"If houses are damaged, we will help in construction by providing Rs five lakh each," he said,
Yediyurappa on Wednesday had said the newly-appointed Ministers would be allocated portfolios in a couple of days.
Several disqualified MLAs, including Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumatahalli, S T Somashekar, Byrati Basavaraj left for Delhi on Wednesday amid reports that they had expressed keenness to meet BJP's central leadership on their political future.
The then Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar had disqualified 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law, which they have challenged in the Supreme Court.
On getting relief from the apex court, some of them would be inducted into the cabinet as per the arrangement agreed upon, BJP sources said, noting that Yediyurappa has kept 16 berths still vacant.
However, K Sudhakar, one of the disqualified MLAs has clarified that they were going to Delhi to meet the lawyers representing them in the Supreme Court, where their plea challenging the disqualification is pending.
But speculations are rife that they may make attempts to meet some top BJP leaders, with BJP leader C P Yogeshwar accompanying them to Delhi.
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LPG hoarders nabbed with 74 cylinders in Delhi's Mahipalpur
New Delhi (PTI): Three men were arrested in southwest Delhi's Mahipalpur for allegedly hoarding LPG cylinders to sell them at a premium price, police said on Sunday.
They were identified as Krishna, Dinesh Sahu, and Mithilesh, aged 33, 46, and 39, all from Bihar but living in Delhi.
The police seized 74 LPG cylinders – 70 domestic and four commercial - along with a transport vehicle and refilling equipment in the raid on Saturday, an officer said.
"The trio was engaged in illegally storing LPG cylinders and supplying them to local customers without bills or licences. They allegedly used metal pipes to transfer gas from multiple filled cylinders into empty ones to manipulate supply and increase margins," the officer said.
"During the search, a large number of LPG cylinders, weighing machines and gas transfer equipment were found. The accused failed to produce any valid documents for storage or distribution of the cylinders," the officer said.
Among the recovered items were 54 filled and 16 used domestic cylinders, three filled and one used commercial cylinder, an electronic weighing scale, two hanging weighing machines and equipment used for refilling gas.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Essential Commodities Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Vasant Kunj North police station.
The three have been living in Delhi for over two decades and were allegedly involved in the illegal LPG trade in the Mahipalpur area for the past three years, the police said.
