Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa who made a snap visit to Delhi on Wednesday to meet BJP national president JP Nadda to discuss a long-pending cabinet expansion, returned after the party leadership sought time to finalise the list of new faces. “I have asked the party president to allow me to induct new faces into my cabinet. He said he will come back to me in 2-3 days,” Yediyurappa told reporters after meeting Nadda.The chief minister, however, did not clarify if it is going to be a cabinet reshuffle or just an expansion. Earlier, Yediyurappa had said he had some major plans for his ministry and the decision would be taken after consulting the central leaders.Yediyurappa can add seven more ministers to his cabinet, which will take its strength the maximum allowed 34 members. The CM has been under severe pressure to accommodate recently elected MLA Munirathna and legislative council members MTB Nagaraj, R Shankar and H Vishwanath, who party-hopped and helped the BJP come to power in Karnataka. Lobbying is intense also to induct eight-time legislator Umesh Katti, and two other leaders — Arvind Limbavali and CP Yogeshwar — who are said to have played a major role in bringing the BJP to power.With some BJP MLAs who missed an opportunity to be a part of the Yediyurappa’s cabinet expressing unhappiness, sometimes in public, people close to the CM said he was keen on a reshuffling to stem potential dissidence. But a long list of ministerial aspirants means it is going to be a tightrope walk for Yediyurappa to deal with disappointed aspirants or those who are shown the doors.Ten out of the 27 ministers in the state cabinet are turncoats, who quit their parties and got elected on a BJP ticket in the bypolls held last December. Inducting four more legislators who were formerly with the Congress and the JD(S) would take that tally to 14. The chief minister also has the huge challenge to maintain caste and regional balance while expanding or reshuffling his ministry.
In the 27-member cabinet, Bengaluru has got the highest share with seven ministers, followed by Belagavi with four. Twelve districts, largely in the Old Mysore and Kalyana Karnataka (formerly called Hyderabad Karnataka) regions that rank low in the development index, remain underrepresented.The ministry looks skewed even in terms of caste representations. The dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities have got the lion’s share, with eight and seven ministers each, while backward classes and Dalits have not got prominence. The cabinet has only one woman, Shashikala Jolle.
