Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday rewarded with Cabinet berth 10 defectors, who helped the BJP bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition and come to power.
The cabinet expansion led to dissatisfaction among a section of “native” BJP leaders who were left out of the exercise as the party sought to contain dissidence in the face of intense lobbying for berths by several contenders. The then disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs who had shifted loyalty to the BJP and won the December by-elections, weresworn-in at a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan with the GovernorVajubhai Vala administering oath of office and secrecy.
The ten are: S T Somashekar (Yeshwantpur constituency),Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Anand Singh (Vijayanagar), KSudhakar (Chikkaballapur), Byrathi Basavaraj (K R Puram), AShivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), B C Patil (Hirekerur), K Gopalaiah(Mahalakshmi Layout), K C Narayana Gowda (K R Pet) andShrimant Balasaheb Patil (Kagwad).
Thursday’s much-awaited expansion takes the strength ofthe Cabinet to 28, with six vacancies now. In the firstexpansion last August, 17 Ministers were inducted. The latest exercise wasn’t a smooth affair for the Chief Minister and it was not without a twist.
Yediyurappa had announced on Sunday that 13 aspirants,including the 10 who were sworn-in on Thursday and three BJPold-timers would be inducted. The three who were expected to get Cabinet berths wereUmesh Katti, Arvind Limbavali and C P Yogeshwar. A section of the BJP had opposed making Yogeshwar aminister, pointing out that he had lost the assembly elections andnot a member of either House. Late on Wednesday, Yediyurappa said induction of BJP old-timers had been put off following directions from the party’s central leadership. The decision to take none of the “native” BJP leadersinto the Cabinet in the current round came after intenselobbying from several aspirants which threatened to go out ofhand at one stage, party sources said.
The ten newly-inducted Ministers were among the then 16Congress-JD(S) MLAs who brought down the coalition governmentheaded by H D Kumaraswamy. Among these disqualified MLAs, 13 had contested theby-polls in December and 11 had won. (PTI)
