Karnataka gets five ministers in new NDA govt
Bengaluru, Jun 9: Five Parliamentarians from Karnataka including JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, BJP leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, on Sunday took oath in the new NDA Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Union Minister of State in the previous Modi government, Shobha Karandlaje, and former minister in the state government V Somanna -- both from BJP -- were also sworn in.
They were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
While Sitharaman, Kumaraswamy and Joshi were given Cabinet rank, Karandlaje and Somanna were made Ministers of State.
Sitharaman represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, while other four were elected to Lok Sabha in the recently concluded polls.
Kumaraswamy represents Mandya, Joshi was elected from Dharwad, Karandlaje -- Bangalore North, and Somanna --Tumkur.
Of the ministers, Kumaraswamy, who has been given a minister post from NDA partner JD(S)' quota, is from the dominant Vokkaliga community.
From the BJP's quota, while Sitharaman and Joshi are Brahmins, Karandlaje is a Vokkaliga, and Somanna is from Lingayat, another dominant community in the state.
For Kumaraswamy and Somanna, this is their first stint in the union government, while Sitharaman held the post of Finance and Corporate Affairs in the previous Modi government.
Joshi held portfolios of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, and Karandlaje was Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare in the previous NDA tenure.
Ahead of his swearing-in, Kumaraswamy said the prime minister has given him an opportunity to serve as a minister in his new Ministry, and gave people of "Kannada Naadu" credit for this.
The former chief minister, while maintaining that he has not placed a demand for any portfolio, reiterated his desire to be the Agriculture Minister.
Somanna, on his part, said he will honestly work towards fulfilling the expectations of the party leadership.
He also said that he has no expectations regarding the portfolio and will serve in the department assigned to him by the prime minister with the aim of ensuring that the government's benefits reach the people.
The NDA got 19 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, with BJP winning 17 and JD(S) in 2. The ruling Congress in the state has won nine seats.
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BS Yediyurappa appeals to MLA Yatnal's group to work unitedly to strengthen party
Bengaluru, Nov 26: With a group of Karnataka BJP leaders led by Bijapur MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal holding a parallel agitation over the waqf issue, veteran party leader B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday accused them of doing it because of their "self-conceit", and appealed them to work unitedly to strengthen the party.
The former Karnataka chief minister also said that everyone should take the responsibility for the party's defeat in the Assembly bypolls for three segments, even as the BJP's performance is being seen as a "setback" for his son and state president B Y Vijayendra.
"State president B Y Vijayendra has appealed to Basangouda Patil Yatnal and others to stop protesting separately, and work with us unitedly. Despite this, because of their self-conceit, they are doing such things. It is not right on their part," Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I appeal to them at least now to come forward and cooperate to strengthen the party together."
When told that they are not willing to work unitedly with the state's current leadership of the party and whether he will bring it to the notice of the high command, Yediyurappa said, "We will do our duty. The rest is left to them and central leadership...high command knows everything. Let's see what they will do."
Yatnal-led group include BJP MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, B P Harish, and former lawmakers Aravind Limbavali, Kumar Bangarappa and G M Siddeshwara and others.
The leaders, who had stayed away from the protest recently held by the party on the Waqf issue, on Monday held a parallel agitation over the issue in Bidar. Today, they are in Kalaburagi district.
Yatnal and Jarkiholi have been openly critical of Vijayendra, accusing him of indulging in "adjustment politics" with the ruling Congress, and trying to keep the party in his clutches along with his father Yediyurappa.
Noting that the party had faced a setback in the bypolls for Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna, Yediyurappa said, "We accept that. What shortcomings were being discussed in the party. It should be ensured that such things don't repeat."
To a question whether the bypoll loss is being seen as a setback to his son Vijayendra, he said, "It is not a question of Vijayendra or Yediyurappa. The loss in all the three seats is a setback for us (party). Everyone should take the responsibility and see to it that such things don't repeat."
