Gets green signal from BJP President Amit Shah

New Delhi:  After 25 days of assuring office, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa will expand his Cabinet on Tuesday (Aug.20) with BJP National President Amit Shah on Saturday approving the list of Legislators to be included in the Council of Ministers.

On Saturday evening, Yediyurappa and Shah held a closed-door meeting for nearly an hour to discuss induction of Ministers and other issues related to the State.

Soon after his meeting with Shah at New Delhi, Yediyurappa took to social media to announce the date of Cabinet expansion. The BJP legislature party meeting will be held at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning. Post noon on the same day (Aug.20), anywhere between a dozen to 18 Legislators are expected to be sworn in as Ministers at the Raj Bhavan.

Yediyurappa who flew to New Delhi from Bengaluru late on Thursday night had camped in the National Capital on Friday and Saturday to obtain clearance for Cabinet expansion and to discuss release of flood-relief funds.

Indications are that the party will induct 16 to 18 Legislators into the Cabinet in the first round and keep other Cabinet berths vacant to accommodate disqualified Congress and JD(S) Legislators later.

The names of BJP leaders to be inducted into the Ministry and the portfolios to be allocated are likely to be finalised on Monday evening after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his two-day visit to Bhutan, according to sources.

Among the names doing the rounds are S.A. Ramdas (K.R), Appachhu Ranjan (Madikeri), K.G. Bopaiah (Virajpet), B. Sriramulu (Molakalmuru), Aravind Limbavali (Mahadevapura), S. Angara (Sullia), H. Nagesh (Mulbagal), Balachandra Jarkiholi (Arbhavi), R. Ashoka (Padmanabha Nagar), K.S. Eshwarappa (Shivamogga City), Haladi Srinivas Shetty (Kundapura), Suresh Kumar (Rajajinagar), Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan (Malleswaram), Shashikala Jolle (Nippani), C.T. Ravi (Chikkamagalur), Govind Karjol (Mudhol) and M.P. Kumaraswamy (Mudigere).

The CM is also said to be contemplating on inducting two MLCs from among Y.A. Narayanaswamy, N. Ravikumar and Kota Srinivas Poojary.

The party top brass is also likely to consult other senior leaders, especially B.L. Santosh, before approving the Legislators to be inducted, the sources added.

The party is expected to do a balancing act by giving representation to dominant communities, regional aspirations, experienced legislators and some young faces.

Yediyurappa had remained a one-man Cabinet for over 20 days after taking oath as the Chief Minister on July 26.

The Opposition Congress and JD(S) repeatedly taunted him over this and also the two parties accused him of being unable to manage the situation on his own amid devastating floods in the State.