BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa wants to reduce his portfolio load. The newly-elected legislators are likely to be given the additional portfolios that are currently with him and other ministers. Senior ministers have already been sounded about possible changes in their portfolios.
Portfolios like Finance, Water Resources, Energy, Bengaluru Development and Information and Public Relations are with the CM, while most senior ministers too are holding more than one important portfolio. “All discussions related to ministry expansion are being held mostly at the CM’s residence in Bengaluru. Everything depends on his meeting with the central leaders,” said a senior BJP leader.
The CM is aware that he will have some berth pangs before the cabinet expansion, which is the next big thing on his agenda. Ahead of this exercise, all eyes are on Thursday’s cabinet meeting where Yediyurappa is expected to discuss the bypoll results and the changes he is likely to make in his team. This is the first meeting of the cabinet after the party’s resounding victory in the by-elections to 15 Assembly seats.
The CM is likely to visit New Delhi on Saturday to get the central leadership’s nod for the changes he plans to effect. According to a senior minister, the exercise will be an expansion of the ministry, and not a reshuffle.Yediyurappa had inducted 17 ministers in August and kept the remaining slots vacant.
Yediyurappa had inducted 17 ministers in August and kept the remaining slots vacant to accommodate the rebel Congress-JDS leaders who supported the formation of the BJP government in the state. As he was holding too many portfolios, some of them were allotted to 14 ministers in September. Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who holds the Transport Ministry, was given additional charge of Agriculture while Suresh Kumar, who holds the Primary and Secondary Education portfolio, was given Labour ministry too. Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai was given Cooperation and Tourism Minister C T Ravi was given Sugar ministry.
“Accommodating new legislators into the ministry and allotting portfolios without disturbing the current ministers will certainly be a challenge,” said a senior minister. Apart from the newly-elected MLAs, disqualified legislator R Shankar, who was convinced to give up his constituency to BJP’s Ashok Pujar, senior BJP leaders Aravind Limbavali and Umesh Katti are also likely to be considered during the cabinet expansion.
The party is also said to be considering a berth in the Legislative Council for Laxman Savadi as one seat will be vacated by Congress’s newly-elected MLA Rizwan Arshad. In June 2020, the term of 12 MLCs will end and BJP can get five of its leaders elected and nominate four more. The CM has reportedly assured M T B Nagaraj and AH Vishwanath, who lost the recent by-election, as well as R Shankar, to wait till June 2020. He is also said to be considering Council berths for some BJP leaders who gave up their demand for the party tickets during the bypolls.