Only by-poll winners to be made Ministers, Cabinet expansion by month-end: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Dec 17: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday made it clear that only those MLAs who won the recent by-polls will be made ministers and no one else.
With cabinet expansion on the cards ever since the BJP secured a comfortable majority in the Assembly by winning 12 of the 15 constituencies which went to byelections on December five, hectic lobbying has started for ministerial berths.
Many aspirants have made a beeline for the Chief Minister, seeking to push their case.
The minister for health and family welfare B Sriramulu is keen to get the post of Deputy Chief Minister.
"We have already said that those who have won the recent assembly byelections will be made ministers.
There is no question of making others ministers," Yediyurappa told reporters here.
"I will go to Delhi after December 21 or 22 and get the matter (cabinet expansion) resolved.
The oath-taking (by the new ministers) will take place by the end of the month," the Chief Minister added.
The Karnataka government can have 34 ministers, including Chief Minister, of which 18 have been filled.
MLAs G Somashekar Reddy, Murugesh Nirani, Umesh Katti, Ramesh Jarkiholi and deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi met Yediyurappa on Tuesday and are believed to have discussed cabinet expansion.
BJP sources said Jarkiholi had put forth his demand to make him Deputy Chief Minister with the plum Water Resources portfolio.
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Hearing in defamation case against Rahul Gandhi postponed till March 27
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): Hearing in the defamation case involving Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, which was scheduled to take place on Monday at the MP-MLA Court in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district, could not take place due to the non-appearance of the plaintiff Vijay Mishra.
The court will now hear this matter on March 27.
Santosh Kumar Pandey, the advocate of the plaintiff, on Monday said that he had submitted a formal application to the court during the previous hearing.
This application requested that the audio and video recordings of the statements made by Rahul Gandhi, which have been presented as evidence, be matched with Rahul Gandhi's authentic voice.
Due to Vijay Mishra's absence, the court has scheduled the next hearing for March 27, when the arguments in the case will be presented.
On February 20, Gandhi, the MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta. He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.
The case stems from Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign.
Following the remarks, Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.
In December 2023, the court had issued a warrant against Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
