Talk of cabinet expansion gains momentum in Karnataka as CM Bommai flies to Delhi
Bengaluru, Apr 5: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said he hopes to get instructions from the party leadership on the expansion or rejig of his cabinet, during the New Delhi trip.
The Chief Minister, who will be in the national capital today and tomorrow, is expected to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J P Nadda.
"I have no such instructions so far, when I go there and when I meet Amit Shah and Nadda ji, I hope to get...." Bommai said in response to a question on cabinet expansion or rejig.
Speaking to reporters here ahead of his travel, he said he has sought appointment from Nadda and Shah. "...it is not yet fixed, if it is fixed, I will meet them."
When told that some Ministerial aspirants are in Delhi, he merely said, "...naturally."
There is pressure mounting on the Chief Minister to expand or rejig his cabinet soon, after the recent Assembly elections in five states.
Some legislators have even been advocating a Gujarat-like overhaul of the Karnataka cabinet soon, to make way for new faces, ahead of the assembly election next year.
There are currently 30 Ministers in the State Cabinet, including the CM, against the sanctioned strength of 34.
Shah, who was recently in the city, had set a target of 150 seats to Karnataka BJP leaders for 2023 assembly elections in the state, where the ruling party is eyeing a successive term.
Bommai said he will be meeting Union Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to discuss Mekedatu, Mahadayi, Upper Krishna, Upper Bhadra projects, and other river projects, requesting for their quick implementation with technical and administrative clearences.
He said he will also be meeting Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding GST issues, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sainik Schools, and try to meet Union Power Minister R K Singh.
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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