Amid growing disgruntlement in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Cabinet expansion, which is scheduled for Thursday, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa seems to be buying peace by promising a reshuffle in July.
Sources in the party said the Chief Minister has spoken to several ministerial aspirants, including those from Kalyana Karnataka region, who were huddled in a series of meetings in the city demanding ministries on Monday and Tuesday. He is believed to have explained his situation — that making newcomers Ministers was imperative and that the high command had only cleared expansion, not reshuffle. He appealed to them to “understand and cooperate”, according to sources.
He has also reportedly promised that he would rejig the Cabinet in July. Seven seats in the Legislative Council will become vacant and then he has promised to make disqualified MLAs R. Shankar and N. Nagaraju (MTB) MLCs and Ministers.
Calls for ‘sacrifice’
Notwithstanding this, there has been a growing clamour for senior Ministers to “sacrifice” their posts to accommodate others from the party. Saundatti MLA Anand C. Mamani, in a series of tweets on Tuesday, said that seniors who have enjoyed power in all governments till now were refusing to give it up. Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said on Monday that an evaluation of Ministers was necessary and non-perfomers should be removed to accommodate the more deserving leaders.
As Ministers expressed concerns over reports of a reshuffle at the Cabinet meet on Tuesday, the Chief Minister assured them that only an expansion would happen on Thursday. But, according to a senior Minister, he admitted that a reshuffle might happen later this year.
Regional balance
Meanwhile, several MLAs from Kalyana Karnataka and coastal Karnataka have demanded “adequate representation” for their regions in the Cabinet. More than 10 MLAs from Kalyana Karnataka held a meeting at the Legislators’ House on Tuesday, as they did on Monday. Of the 40 seats in the region of six districts, the BJP won 15 in 2018 and added another one to its tally with Anand Singh joining the saffron party and winning in the byelection. At present, the region has only one Minister (Prabhu Chauhan). It is expected to add another in Mr. Singh.
Similarly, the BJP won 16 of 19 seats in coastal Karnataka in 2018, and the tally is now up to 17 with Shivaram Hebbar joining it and winning the bypoll. However, none of the MLAs have found a berth in the Cabinet. Kota Srinivas Poojary, the sole Minister from the region, is an MLC. Mr. Hebbar, also from the region, will now make the Cabinet. The MLAs from both regions believe their regions are under-represented.
Against Yogeshwar
These MLAs have opposed C.P. Yogeshwar’s candidature for a berth in the Cabinet, as he was defeated in the 2018 Assembly polls. Rudresh, president of the Ramanagaram district unit of BJP, visited as the Kalyana Karnataka MLAs met and appealed to them not to oppose Mr. Yogeshwar’s candidature. However, Umesh Katti, who is all set to be inducted into the Cabinet, said that those defeated could be made Ministers “only in special cases, which is not the case now”.
Mr. Yogeshwar, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli were at Tirupati on Tuesday and are expected to return on Wednesday. According to sources, Mr. Yediyurappa is still trying to induct Mr. Kumathalli into the Cabinet.
