K'taka CM expands cabinet, 7 Ministers sworn-in

Karnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa on Wednesday expanded his 17-month old cabinet,inducting seven ministers and indicated that excise minister HNagesh would be dropped.

Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of officeand secrecy to the Ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.

The new Ministers are MLAs Umesh Katti (Hukkeri), SAngara (Sullia), Murugesh Nirani (Bilgi) and Arvind Limbavali(Mahadevapura), and MLCs R Shankar, M T B Nagaraj and C PYogeshwar.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, his cabinet colleagues,BJP leaders and office bearers, including General Secretaryin-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, state unit President NalinKumar Kateel, senior state government officials,family membersand supporters of the new Ministers,among others,were present.

This is the third expansion of the cabinet sinceYediyurappa assumed charge in July 2019 after the collapse ofthe Congress-JDS government in the wake of revolt by 17 MLAsof the coalition partners.

It's a mix of the old guard and new entrants fromCongress and JDS who made it into the cabinet.

Keeping up the promise, Congress-JD(S) rebels-turned BJPMLCs R Shankar and M T B Nagaraj, who helped the saffron partycome to power, were inducted by Yediyurappa.

Both of them had served as Ministers in the coalitiongovernment.

Another MLC Yogeshwar, who is said to have played a keyrole by managing Congress-JD(S) rebel MLAs during thepolitical turmoil in the state in 2019, was also inducted intothe Ministry.

He too was a Minister in the previous BJP government.

Among the BJP old guard who made it to the cabinet wereKatti, Angara, Nirani and Limbavali.

While Katti (eight time MLA), Nirani and Limbavali (stateBJP VicePresident) were Ministers in the previous BJPgovernment, for Angara (six times MLA), this will be his firststint as the Minister.

While announcing the induction of seven new ministersearlier in the day, Yediyurappa indicated that Excise MinisterH Nagesh will be dropped from the Ministry, thereby keepingone berth vacant in the state cabinet, which can have amaximum strength of 34 members.