BENGALURU: Power equations in Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s government are set to change after the cabinet expansion in the next few days. While newly-elected legislators are likely to get important portfolios, Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, seen as the high command’s blue-eyed boy, is unlikely to retain his current position in the pecking order.
Although he had lost the 2018 assembly elections, Savadi was appointed DCM, along with Govind Karjol and Dr CN Ashwath Narayan. While some saw it as an attempt to groom the Lingayat leader, it was also seen as a strategic move ahead of elections in Maharashtra, where he was in-charge of assembly segments in border districts. But the party did not do well in those constituencies. Now, the party is likely to make him MLC in place of Congress MLC Rizwan Arshad, who was elected MLA from Shivajinagar in the recent bypolls.
Sources said that Savadi’s equation within the government will change as he will be a DCM but as member of the council, while the two other DCMs will be members of the assembly. Equations in his home district Belagavi, too, are likely to change as three or four MLAs, including Umesh Katti, are likely to be inducted into the ministry. “The equations will change as Ramesh Jarkiholi and Umesh Katti, too, are influential leaders from the same district,” sources said. Savadi was keen to contest the bypolls from his home constituency Athani, but had to make way for Mahesh Kumathalli.
Ashwath Narayan, who is said to be keen on the coveted Bengaluru Development ministry, could be rewarded for his role in the KR Pete assembly elections, if his party so decides, and his position will automatically get a boost. Currently, he is seen as the BJP’s face in the state capital, where the party has done well in the bypolls.
However, political analyst MK Bhaskar Rao says that Savadi’s standing in the government will not change much, even if he is made MLC and continues as a DCM. “In fact, that will pose a new challenge for the chief minister, as House leaders in both the council and assembly will be from the same community. As DyCM, Savadi will have to be made leader in the council, in place of minister Kota Srinivas Pujari,” he added.