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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Sonia Gandhi's attempt to launch Rahul from Raebareli will fail: Amit Shah
Hukkeri (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh after running away from Amethi and predicted that he will lose the polls there against the BJP candidate by a huge margin.
He also said former AICC President Sonia Gandhi's multiple attempts to "launch" Rahul Gandhi had failed and claimed that this was the twenty-first attempt.
The top BJP leader addressed a public meeting here in Belagavi district for party candidate from Chikkodi Lok Sabha segment Annasaheb Jolle.
"Modi ji tried and at once Chandrayaan (mission to Moon) got launched. Sonia Gandhi has launched this 'yaan' named Rahul Baba (Rahul Gandhi) twenty times, but her launching has not been successful. Today for the twenty-first time, running away from Amethi, he has filed nomination from Raebareli," Shah said.
He said, "Rahul Baba, I'm telling the result of Raebareli from here. Against BJP's candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh, you will lose by a huge margin. Write down my words."
Rahul Gandhi is contesting the elections from the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades.
Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the party said in a statement on Friday.
The two seats will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election.
Ending days of suspense, the party announced the candidates from the two seats on Friday.
Raebareli is a constituency which had earlier elected Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi, his grandmother Indira Gandhi and his grandfather Feroze Gandhi.
The constituency has also been represented by family members and friends of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Rahul Gandhi has also contested the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala which went to polls on April 26.
