Cabinet expansion soon: CM Bommai
Chitradurga (K'taka), Jan 7: Amid mounting pressure from party MLAs seeking ministerial position, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said the state Cabinet expansion would take place soon.
He, however, did not disclose the names of legislators likely to be inducted into the Cabinet.
"We had a detailed discussion a few days ago. As per the information I have received, a meeting will be convened soon and a decision will be taken. I expect this to happen very soon," Bommai said.
When asked who would be taken into the Cabinet, he said it is left to the BJP high command to decide.
The Chief Minister said he has explained all the issues to the party's top leadership. "The final decision will be taken by them. We will let you know when they take any decision. There are indications that it will happen very soon," Bommai said.
Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi and Shivamogga legislator K S Eshwarappa are the most prominent among a string of aspirants eyeing a Cabinet berth with hardly four months left for the Assembly election.
Jarkiholi had resigned as minister in March 2022 after a social activist lodged a police complaint alleging sexual harassment of a woman 'job aspirant' and video clips purportedly showing their intimate moments surfaced. He has repeatedly claimed innocence and that the video was "fake".
Eshwarappa quit the state Cabinet in April 2022 following a controversy over the death of a Belagavi-based contractor, who had accused the BJP leader of demanding 40 per cent commission to award contracts for public works.
Against the sanctioned 34 ministerial posts, 28 are filled and six are vacant.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP's main agenda is to keep minorities in fear, alleges Stalin
Chennai (PTI): DMK President M K Stalin has alleged that the BJP's main agenda is to keep the minorities in fear, and everyone is aware of what is happening in the states governed by the saffron party.
Stalin further alleged that Muslims continued to be subjected to attacks.
"Now, a situation has arisen where even Christmas could not be celebrated peacefully. Christians are being targeted. The entire country is a witness to what is happening in Manipur. The BJP's plan of action is that a state of insecurity for minorities should spread like a wildfire across the country," he told PTI in an interview.
That was why it first enacted the CAA, and the next was an amendment to the Waqf law, and now it is "desperate" to amend the FCRA, he alleged, and lashed out at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.
"Palaniswami, who supports all these three amendments and has formed an alliance with the BJP, does not have any concern for the welfare of minorities. However, the DMK is always firm in its commitment to ensure that India must always be a secular state; that people belonging to all religions must be equally respected and that the Constitutional safeguards conferred on minorities must be upheld. If any of these is threatened, the DMK will be the first party to raise its voice against it," he said.
Denying that the BJP made the minorities feel insecure, BJP state vice president M Chakravarthy said the chief minister was making the allegation due to the "fear that the Christian and Dalit votes would go to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by actor-politician Vijay."
He was depicting the BJP as a bogeyman in an attempt to create unnecessary apprehension among the minorities, the BJP leader told PTI.
On FCRA, Chakravarthy asked, "What's wrong with ensuring accountability in the use of funds?"
