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

Ending a long wait, KarnatakaChief Minister B S Yediyurappa expanded his 17-month oldcabinet on Wednesday, inducting seven ministers as he alsodropped Excise Minister H Nagesh from the ministry.

The exercise led to resentment within BJP, with some MLAsexpressing serious reservations about MLCs not elected by thepeople being made Ministers, lack of representation with mostMinisters still from Bengaluru and Belagavi districts, andalso on their ''seniority or sacrifice'' not being considered.

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

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

Yediyurappa, his cabinet colleagues, BJP leaders andoffice bearers, including General Secretary in-charge ofKarnataka Arun Singh, state unit President Nalin Kumar Kateel,senior officials of the state government, family members andsupporters of new Ministers, among others were present.

This was 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 his promise, Congress-JD(S) rebels-turned BJPMLCs R Shankar and M T B Nagaraj, who helped the saffron partycome to power and also another ruling party MLC Yogeshwar, whois said to have played a key role by managing rebel MLAsduring the 2019 political turmoil, were inducted by the CM.

Among the BJP old guard who were inducted were Katti,Angara, Nirani and Limbavali.

While Shankar and Nagaraj had served as Ministers in theprevious coalition government from the Congress' side,Yogeshwar, Katti (eight time MLA), Nirani and Limbavali (stateBJP Vice President) were Ministers in the erstwhile BJPgovernment.

For Angara (six times MLA), this is his first stint asMinister.

Non-inclusion of RR Nagar MLA Munirathana, who hadrebelled against Congress and defected to the BJP, came as asurprise as the Chief Minister had announced duringcampaigning for the November 2020 bypolls that he would bemade minister on being elected.

According to sources,efforts were on till late last nightto induct Munirathna into the Ministry and the CM is said tohave tried to convince the party high command in this regard.

Cases against Munirathna reportedly become the impedimentfor him to become minister, they said, adding he has beenassured of being inducted in the next round of expansion.

Yediyurappa said excise minister Nagesh, who has beendropped from the ministry, has been appointed as Dr B RAmbedkar Development Corporation Chief with cabinet rank,thereby keeping one berth vacant in the state cabinet, whichcan have a maximum strength of 34 members.

Nagesh, an Independent MLA from Mulbagal who was part ofthe Congress-JD(S) coalition government, supported the BJPduring the political turmoil and went on to become a Minister,said after meeting the Chief Minister that his resignation wasvoluntary and he would abide by Yediyurappa's decision.

Sources said the decision to drop Nagesh was linked to acomplaint by the daughter of an excise department official tothe PMO after he allegedly demanded a bribe for her illfather's transfer.

The swearing-in was held three days after Yediyurappafinalised the expansion at a meeting with top BJP leaders,including party chief J P Nadda and Union Home Minister AmitShah in New Delhi.

Yediyurappa, who had been planning the expansion forseveral months, was asked by Nadda in November to wait for theclearance from the central leadership.

Of the seven new Ministers inducted on Wednesday, twoeach are from Veerashaiva-Lingayat, Kuruba and Scheduled Castecommunities and one from Vokkaliga community.

In the expanded cabinet with 33 Ministers (droppingNagesh) the representation from the two dominant communities-Veerashaiva-Lingayat and Vokkaligas are 11 and 7 respectively.

Several party legislators and ministerial aspirants likeM P Renukacharya, G H Thippareddy, M Satish Reddy, S ARamadass among others, expressed strong displeasure over notbeing considered, with MLCs becoming ministers and lack ofadequate regional representation.

With the induction of Limbavali, the cabinet will nowhave the highest- eight ministers representing Bengaluru,followed by Belgavi 5 with the induction of Katti.

Also, Shankar, Nagaraj and Yogeshwar becoming Ministershas taken the number of MLCs in the Ministry to five, withDeputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi and Muzrai Minister KotaSrinivas Poojari already in the cabinet.

In a direct attack on the CM, Vijayapura City MLABasanagouda Patil Yatnal, who has been critical of him,accused the Chief Minister of making appointments underblackmail without considering seniority or honesty.

''CM has made those who are blackmailing him as Ministers.

Three people- one political secretary and two Ministers, havebeen blackmailing with some of Yediyurappa's CDs for threemonths.

One who has become Minister along with CD blackmail wasalso involved in payment of money to Vijayendra (CM's son),''he said.

Alleging that the CM and his family have 'hijacked' BJPin Karnataka, Yatnal, who has said that he is not aMinisterial aspirant, requested the PM to end dynasticpolitics by Yediyurappa's family in Karnataka.

''I challenge you (Yediyurappa) ahead of Makara Sankrantithat from Uttarayana your (political) end will begin and a newperiod will start under PM Modi in Karnataka,'' he said, anddemanded the CM's resignation following the High Courtdismissing his petition seeking quashing of the FIRs againsthim in an illegal land denotification case.

Yatnal's statement comes despite warnings by the BJPleadership against making statements in public on issuesrelating to the party and leaders.

Also making a reference to blackmail, Ministerial aspirantand MLC A H Vishwanth, who was among the MLAs from theCongress-JD(S) coalition to resign in 2019 and switched overto BJP, hit out at Yediyurappa for not keeping his promise.

PTI KSU APRADMINISTRATOR APRADMINISTRATOR