Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has reportedly discussed with Union Home Minister and BJP national president Amit Shah the issue of Cabinet expansion in Karnataka, which has been pending for over a month. However, Mr. Shah has not cleared the list and the impasse over expansion is likely to continue, sources close to the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Shah and Mr. Yediyurappa are said to have deliberated on the matter in the hour-long flight from Bengaluru to Hubballi on Saturday. Mr. Yediyurappa was accompanied by son B.Y. Vijayendra and State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on the special flight.
No second meeting
Though there was supposed to be another round of meeting in Hubballi on Saturday night, the Chief Minister left for Bengaluru in the evening, even as Mr. Shah stayed back in town.
The Chief Minister is scheduled to leave for Davos, Switzerland, to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum on Sunday morning and is expected to be back on January 24.
Mr. Yediyurappa may have to make another trip to New Delhi once he returns to get the final clearance on the proposed list and on allotment of portfolios, sources said, pushing the exercise further away. The trip to the capital may happen only after the Delhi Assembly polls that are scheduled for February 8, as Mr. Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be busy campaigning, party sources said.
Mr. Yediyurappa has not been able to meet the party high command over the last one month, as he did not get an appointment. He had announced a trip to New Delhi but had to cancel it, reportedly upsetting him.
Newly-elected MLAs
Meanwhile, a group of newly-elected MLAs led by Ramesh Jarkiholi of those in line to join the Cabinet during the expansion exercise, were at the hotel where Mr. Shah was staying and were trying to meet him. While C.C. Patil said he was able to meet Mr. Shah but did not discuss the issue of ministerial berths, Mr. Jarkiholi said that he was not given time for a meeting.
