BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa seems to be cracking under immense pressure from ministerial berth aspirants.
His statements on Monday clearly point to his reluctance to confidently state that all 11 of the newly-elected MLAs would be made ministers.
Yediyurappa has been saying all along that all these MLAs, who were instrumental in the BJP government coming to power and now adding numbers to his government, will be made ministers. But on Monday, Yediyurappa put the onus on party national president Amit Shah.
“Amit Shah’s decision is final. I will abide by his decision as he is the national president,” Yediyurappa said when asked if all 11 MLAs will be inducted as ministers.
Having cancelled his New Delhi trip to discuss cabinet expansion with the central leadership at least three times already, Yediyurappa is now compelled to show that the delay is a result of the unavailability of the central leadership and not reluctance from his end.
Yediyurappa said he was willing to visit New Delhi anytime but that it depended on when he would get an appointment with Amit Shah.
“I intend to go to Delhi at the earliest. If Amit Shah gives time, I will travel even tonight and finalise cabinet expansion. I hope to expand the cabinet before I travel out of the country,” Yediyurappa said referring to his travel to Davos for the World Economic Forum.
The Chief Minister is expected to fly out of Karnataka on January 20.
“If I get an appointment with them tonight, I will go else I will at least try tomorrow. The expansion will be done as soon as possible,” he said.
Yediyurappa had earlier said he would go to New Delhi probably on January 11 or 12 to discuss cabinet expansion with the BJP bosses.
However, on Saturday, he said he had decided to discuss the exercise with Shah during the latter’s visit to the state next week.
Shah will be here to address a rally in Hubballi on January 18 as part of the BJP’s nationwide outreach programme to create awareness among the people about the Citizenship Amendment Act.