BENGALURU: As promised, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is likely to induct N Munirathna, who won the Rajarajeshwari Nagar bypoll on Tuesday, into his cabinet. With this, the ministry will have eight ministers from Bengaluru, which is the highest for any state government. Of the 28 MLAs in the city, the BJP now has 15.
In 2008, it had 17 BJP MLAs which dropped to 12 in 2013. In 2018, it went down further to 11. After the MLAs defected from Congress to BJP and contested the 2019 bypolls, three seats were added. Now, with Munirathna, it is 15.
The cabinet already has seven ministers from the city -- S T Somashekar, Byrathi Basavaraj and Gopalaiah, inducted after the bypolls last year, and party loyalists Deputy CM Dr Ashwath Narayan, Suresh Kumar, V Somanna and R Ashoka. Despite having eight ministers from the city, the CM is expected to keep the Bengaluru development portfolio with him.
“Four ministers are from the old guard and four from the new team. Giving this plum post to any of them will invite uneasiness within the party,” BJP sources said.
When Siddaramaiah was chief minister between 2013 and 2018, he had five to six ministers from Bengaluru, but not all at the same time. He had Ramalingareddy, KJ George, Roshan Baig, Krishna Byregowda, Dinesh Gundurao, M Krishnappa and M R Seetharam in his cabinet.
The induction of eight ministers from Bengaluru seems to have ruffled the feathers of party North Karnataka leaders, who are pointing to regional imbalance. BJP national general secretary C T Ravi said that because of the commitment made earlier, all the four MLAs from the city, who switched over from Congress, have to be given berths. A senior BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said that though at the outset it looks like a government of a single party, it is a coalition with half of them being rebels from opposition parties.
HC: Inducting three MLCs as ministers subject to orders
Bengaluru: Taking note of a petitioner’s apprehension that three MLCs, whose appointment has been challenged before courts, may be appointed as ministers, the Karnataka HC on Wednesday said all decisions in this regard during the pendency of the petition, will be subject to court’s order. The three MLCs are H Vishwanath, M T B Nagaraj and R Shankar. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty passed the order when senior counsel Prashanth Bhushan, representing the petitioner, pressed for a stay for inducting the MLCs into the ministry.
Saying that all parties have to be heard before granting interim prayer, the bench has given a last chance to the state to file objections to petitions and produce the file relating to their appointments. Bhushan argued that the MLCs cannot be appointed as ministers as it would be contrary to Article 164 and 361B of the Constitution. Next hearing is on Nov 19.