Talks with central leadership on cabinet expansion in a week: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Jan 4: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday said he will visit New Delhi in a weeks time to discuss with the BJP high command about the much awaited expansion of his cabinet.
Senior BJP leaders, including Yediyurappa, have indicated the cabinet expansion may take place sometime after 'Sankranti' festival (mid January).
In four to six days- I will be going to Delhi, to discuss- one on ministry expansion and also to discuss with (union) ministers of the concerned departments regarding certain grants for the state and get them released, Yediyurappa told reporters in Hassan.
With Yediyurappa making it clear that 11 of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the December 5 bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, lobbying has been on within the party for the remaining ministerial berths.
Currently there are 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the cabinet that has sanctioned strength is 34.
Yediyurappa said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked him to come to Delhi and discuss with central Ministers on certain issues concerning the state, when he raised the matter during the latter's visit to the state.
It is my duty to bring issues concerning the state to the notice of the Prime Minister, I have done it. He has asked me to come to Delhi and discuss with Ministers of the concerned departments, and he will also speak to them, Yediyurappa said.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
