Cabinet expansion to be delayed

Bengaluru: After having passed the Floor Test on July 29, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa (BSY) now have to wait for the conclusion of the Monsoon Session of Parliament for Cabinet expansion as the BJP top brass is yet to give green signal for the same.

Although it has been almost a week since Yediyurappa took over as the CM, the long wait for the CM seems to extend further as the BJP High Command is said to be busy with the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Yediyurappa is said to have sent a list of 50 MLAs based on caste, regional and organisational identities, to the party Vice-President J.P. Nadda for consideration in the Cabinet formation.

With no green signal from the Party High Command, Yediyurappa, who had thought of flying to Delhi today, is learnt to have dropped his Delhi visit.

The Cabinet formation seems to be all the more complicated, as Yediyurappa has plans to accommodate many of the 17 rebel MLAs from the Congress and JD(S), who played a major role in the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress Coalition Government.

The BJP is in a tricky situation as the party cannot induct any of the rebel MLAs who have been disqualified by the previous Speaker Ramesh Kumar, as they cease to be Legislators for now.

The rebel MLAs have moved the Supreme Court (SC) against their disqualification and the BJP High Command is waiting for the SC’s verdict on the issue, according to sources, which also said that the party top brass is mulling on advising Yediyurappa to induct only 10 MLAs from the party for now and keep the rest of Cabinet berths vacant till the outcome of the SC’s verdict.

This post was published on August 1, 2019 7:57 pm