Bengaluru, Nov 19: The waiting game is not over yet for senior BJP MLAs and Congress-JD (S) rebel legislators, hoping to bag ministerial berths. Reason: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa once again couldn’t secure a nod for cabinet expansion from the party brass.
Yediyurappa, who flew down to New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon, was hoping to get the green signal and take up cabinet expansion this weekend.
The chief minister, accompanied by deputy CM Govind Karjol, met BJP chief JP Nadda briefly and explained to him the need to accommodate new faces in the cabinet. “I have informed Nadda about the need to undertake cabinet expansion at the earliest and accommodate new faces. He said he would discuss the issue and get back in the next 2-3 days,” Yediyurappa told reporters after the meeting in Delhi.
A senior functionary, who accompanied the CM to the national capital, said Yediyurappa was hoping to meet Union minister Amit Shah, but he managed to speak to Nadda, who informed him that he would visit Karnataka next month as part of a country-wide tour. Asked if it would be cabinet expansion or reshuffle, Yediyurappa said, “It will depend on the direction given by Nadda.”
According to party insiders, Yediyurappa handed over the list of legislators he intends to induct into the cabinet and requested Nadda to take a call at the earliest as the winter session of the state legislature starts from December 7.
Yediyurappa is planning to restructure his cabinet by dropping a few ministers to make place for new faces. But everything now depends on the decision taken by the party brass.
Eight-month wait
It's been eight months since the CM has been waiting for the high command’s nod to expand his team, but in vain. Though, there is no clarity on why the BJP national leadership is not giving Yediyurrappa, the senior-most BJP CM in the country, the go-ahead, party insiders believe the delay has something to do with reports of leadership change in the state.
Yediyurappa is under tremendous pressure to expand his cabinet, especially from senior party MLAs and turncoat MLCs, including MTB Nagaraj, R Shankar, H Vishwanath and newly elected MLA Munirathna, who together helped him become CM. It’s been more than two and a half months since both Shankar and Nagaraj were made members of the upper house and since then they have been waiting to become ministers in the Yediyurappa government.
If Yediyurappa fails to get a nod in the next 2-3 days, party insiders said Karnataka could witness a lot of political drama as strong discontent is brewing in the state party unit.
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