MLC C P Yogeshwar will be 100 per cent inducted as Minister: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Dec 1: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday said BJP MLC C P Yogeshwar will be "100 per cent made Minister," during the much awaited expansion or reshuffle of his cabinet, even as a section within the party are opposed to it.
"Yogeshwar will 100 per cent be made Minister," he told reporters in response to a question about resentment within the party against his possible induction into the cabinet.
Thanking Yediyurappa, Yogeshwar said the CM had been saying he would induct him into the cabinet ever since the party came to power and the time for it has come now.
"Maybe because there were views in favour and against my induction into cabinet, the CM has clarified today.I will take up any responsibility (portfolio) the CM allocates to me."
Yogeshwar had lost the 2018 assembly polls from Channapatna against former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S).
He is said to have played a key role by managing the Congress-JD(S) rebel MLAs during their stay in Mumbai, which gave raise to political turmoil in the state, and eventually led to the collapse of the coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy last year, paving the way for BJP to come to power.
It is said he was rewarded with MLC nomination in July in recognition of his contribution for BJP coming to power.
Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi has been lobbying for Yogeshwar's induction into the Ministry.
The duo had met Yediyurappa, as also BJP central leaders in Delhi, including party National President J P Nadda and General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh in this regard.
Speaking to reporters in Hukkeri, Jarkiholi said it was the Chief Minister's prerogative on whom to appoint as Minister. "We will abide by his decision," he said.
However, several MLAs who are Ministerial aspirants, including CM's political secretary M P Renukacharya, have been openly opposing Yogeshwar's induction, saying he has not been elected by people directly and it would scuttle their chances.
Earlier, several BJP MLAs, including Renukacharya,had met Jarkiholi and had requested him not to lobby for Yogeshwar.
Reacting to the Yediyurappa confirming Ministerial berth to Yogeshwar, Renukacharya today said he does not have the powers to question the Chief Minister and the high command's authority or prerogative.
"We will try to speak to the CM and party leadership on what we had discussed with CM and the state unit president in the past," he said.
A Vokkaliga leader from Ramanagara district, Yogeshwar had served as Minister in the previous BJP government.
He also had a stint in the Congress.
Yediyurappa has been waiting for some time to carry out the cabinet exercise, as he was asked by BJP president J P Nadda during their November 18 meeting in New Delhi to wait for clearance from the central leadership.
The CM had told reporters on Friday that he had spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on cabinet expansion, and the central leadership would convey their decision soon, and that the exercise may take place in two-three days.
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Masked men attempt to break into Haryana Cong chief's house in Narnaul, FIR lodged
Chandigarh (PTI): Masked men tried to break into the ancestral house of Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh in Narnaul, but failed after some staff members woke up on hearing the noise and informed police, officials said on Sunday.
The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday in Narnaul's Shiv Colony. The family members of Singh's brother Rao Devender were inside the house at the time of the incident.
A group of four-five masked men scaled a boundary wall to enter the house from the rear side. They cut off the CCTV wires and locked the rooms of the house staff from outside, police said.
Then they attempted to break open the rear entrance of the house using sharp tools. The house staff was woken up by the noise and raised an alarm, following which the intruders fled by jumping over the boundary wall.
Police said they reached the spot immediately after receiving the information about the incident.
Narnaul Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bharat Bhushan said special teams have been formed to nab the accused.
An FIR has been registered under Section 330 (house-trespass and house-breaking) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in the matter, he said.
Police teams examined CCTV footage from near the house, in which four masked men are seen on foot. According to preliminary investigation, it appears that the accused may be part of a gang which is active in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, the DSP said.
"It appears that they entered Rao Narender Singh's house at random for theft and the house may not have been their specific target," Bhushan said.
"We hope to make early arrests in the case," he added.
The opposition Congress targeted the BJP government over the incident, alleging that the law and order in the state is deteriorating.
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said the accused cut the CCTV camera wires, broke the locks and attempted a "deadly assault" on Singh's family. He demanded immediate arrest of the accused.
He said if such an incident can take place at the house of the state Congress chief, imagine the state of fear the common people must be living in.
Surjewala said Singh and other Congress leaders have consistently raised their voices against the "organised crime mafia across Haryana".
Extortion, ransom demands, murder and robbery have become everyday occurrences in Haryana and crime reigns supreme, the Congress leader alleged.
