Karnataka Cabinet rejig after Amit Shah clears names, says CM

Bengaluru: The second Cabinet expansion of the over four-month-old BJP government in Karnataka would take place after party chief Amit Shah approved the names to be finalized soon, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said on Tuesday.

“The Cabinet will be expanded soon after Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi approve the names to be finalized in consultations with the party high command when I go to Delhi in 3-4 days,” Yediyurappa told reporters here.

After the ruling party won 12 of the 15 Assembly seats in the December 5 by-elections, Yediyurappa said he would make all the 11 winners ministers as he had promised them for bringing the party back to power. “I am committed to honour the word I have given them for resigning their Assembly seats and joining our party to contest and win on our symbol (Lotus). They have to be rewarded for sacrificing their seats, which led to the fall of the previous JD-S-Congress coalition government in July,” recalled Yediyurappa.

The first Cabinet expansion took place on August 20 when 17 BJP legislators, including an independent, were inducted, with three as deputy chief ministers. In the 34-member ministry, including the chief minister, 16 cabinet posts are vacant to be filled in the second phase of its expansion. Resignations of 17 rebel legislators, including 14 from the Congress and 3 from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in mid-July led to the fall of the 14-month-old coalition government on July 23 after it is Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy lost the confidence motion he moved on July 18 for want of majority in the Assembly. (IANS)

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