BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, leaving no stone unturned to ensure his party candidates’ victory in the November 3 bypolls, on Saturday said his cabinet will be expanded immediately after the bypolls and N Muniratna, a former Congressman and now a BJP candidate in RR Nagar assembly segment in Bengaluru will be inducted into the ministry.
Muniratna was among the rebel Congress legislators who switched sides to help BJP form the government in Karnataka last year. “The ministry expansion should have been done by now, but was delayed due to various reasons,” the CM said, adding that after the bypoll, he will visit Delhi again to hold discussions with his party leaders and soon after, he is confident of completing the expansion exercise.
Hinting at the possible reshuffle of the ministry too, he said either expansion or reshuffle will be decided after discussions with the central leaders. Results of November 3 bypolls to RR Nagar and Sira assembly segments will be announced on November 10 and the CM expressed confidence of winning both seats.
He had earlier visited New Delhi and held discussions with central leaders on ministry expansion. In fact, he was waiting for a word from Delhi to complete the exercise before the state legislature session in September. Many senior leaders in the party are waiting for the ministry expansion as six berths are yet to be filled and the CM is likely to drop some ministers to make way for more new faces.
Tourism Minister C T Ravi’s resignation too is pending with the CM. Ravi quit after he was appointed as the national general secretary of the party. The CM had made a similar announcement during the 2019 byelections to 15 assembly segments. Rebel Congress and JDS MLAs who had helped the BJP form the government and won the byelections as BJP candidates were inducted into the ministry.
Earlier addressing a virtual rally, the CM said his government will give a special emphasis on developing Bengaluru into a model city of the world. “Over the next three months, we will have a permanent solution to flooding in Bengauru, and we also ensure that the city roads are free of potholes,” he said and added that he will go on a city tour after 15 days to take stock of the works.
On Saturday, a day before public campaigning for the two assembly bypolls to end, the CM attended seven rallies and roadshows in the RR Nagar assembly segment. He spoke about funds released for development of the city and RR Nagar assembly segment. “Muniratna will certainly win and we have to ensure that he wins with a big margin of 50,000 votes,” he said.
Evict those doing mischief in Sira: Cong to ECI
Tumakuru: Congress leaders, including former Deputy CM Dr G Parameshwara, have urged the ECI to take action and “evict” non-voters from Sira assembly segment. “RSS workers and others were doing mischief in all 264 booths. If they are not evicted, our party workers may take it seriously,” he warned. Parameshwara was speaking at a roadshow for Sira Congress candidate and former minister T B Jayachandra. ENS