BENGALURU: After some of his cabinet ministers, it could be the turn of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to head to Delhi. He is expected to travel to the national capital in the second week of September to discuss various issues, including cabinet expansion, with the BJP leadership.
Ever since Yediyurappa took oath as CM last year, he made several trips to Delhi, mostly to get approval for ministry allotments. The last time he paid a visit was in January to get approval for the induction of 10 leaders who quit Congress-JDS to join BJP, and later took oath in February. Then came the nation-wide lockdown in March. Also, he had tested positive for Covid-19 recently and was admitted to a hospital.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said the CM has a packed schedule till the month-end. “The CM likely to visit Delhi in the first or second week of September before the Assembly sessions starts on September 21. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is currently indisposed and the CM may not get an appointment with him at least till the month-end. There are five cabinet berths vacant and the CM is expected to allot portfolios to some of the new MLCs including M T B Nagaraj and H Vishwanath,’’ the sources said.
Yediyurappa is expected to meet the Prime Minister and other Union ministers. “His trip will also depend on the availability of the central ministers. There are other issues like banning the SDPI and the PFI after the recent D J Halli riots. The CM hopes to meet the Union Home Minister to discuss this,’’ the sources said. A senior minister said that on Thursday, the CM orally instructed all the ministers in charge of the flood-hit districts to give him a report on the extent of damage and cost estimate to rebuild houses, roads and bridges.
“The CM has assured us that he will present the report to the Union Government,’’ the minister said.
Recently, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi met BJP leaders in Delhi and is said to be bringing pressure to include MLCs C P Yogeshwar and Vishwanath in the ministry. On Tuesday, Kannada and Culture Minister C T Ravi visited Delhi and met Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Nitin Gadkari among others.