Bangalore: Five more ministers were inducted in the D.V. Sadananda Gowda ministry Thursday, taking the strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) second government in Karnataka to 27.
The five lawmakers — Balachandra Jarkiholi, Anand Asnotikar, Raju Gowda, C.P. Yogeshwar and Varthur Prakash — were sworn-in by state governor H.R. Bhardwaj at a simple ceremony in Raj Bhavan here. They took the oath of office and secrecy in Kannada.
Barring Prakash, who is an Independent, the remaining four ministers are from the ruling party.
Gowda decided to expand the cabinet for the second time at a short notice after the party high command cleared the names of the five legislators during his three-day visit to New Delhi from Aug 9.
Though Gowda advised the 21 ministers to retain the portfolios they held in the previous B.S. Yeddyurappa government, the new ministers will be allotted portfolios in a day or two.
As Gowda reiterated in Delhi Wednesday, the Reddy brothers – G. Karnunakara and G. Janardhana – were kept out of the cabinet following their indictment by the state Lokayukta (ombudsman) July 27 in the multi-crore mining scam in the state. (IANS)