BS Yediyurappa said cabinet expansion is expected to take place between 10:30-11:30 am today.
After single-handedly running Karnataka for over 23 days following his swearing-in ceremony on July 26, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will finally get to expand his cabinet today. "Within 2-3 hours, I'm going to get the final list from BJP president Amit Shah," news agency ANI quoted him as saying on Monday. The development will come as a major relief for BS Yediyurappa, considering the criticism that has been coming his way from the opposition in recent weeks. BS Yediyurappa's oath-taking ceremony had followed major political upheavals in the state last month, when legislators deserted the former Congress-Janata Dal Secular government en masse and reduced it to a minority in the Karnataka assembly. Yediyurappa termed the consequent collapse of the government as a "victory of democracy".
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Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said the cabinet expansion is expected to take place between 10:30-11:30 am today. The oath of office will be administered by Governor Vajubhai Vala.
Sources told news agency PTI that around 13 ministers will take oath today against the approved strength of 34, and the rest of the positions will be filled later.
Balancing caste equations is expected to be a major challenge, given that the party will have to accommodate 39 Lingayat MLAs as well as other prominent leaders belonging to the Vokkaliga, Brahmin, Dalit, Scheduled Tribe and other backward communities.
Some positions are also expected to be left vacant for rebel MLAs from the Congress and Janata Dal Secular who were instrumental in the previous government's fall. They may expect to be rewarded if they manage to get their disqualification revoked by the Supreme Court.
The BJP central leadership is likely to have a complete say on the list of ministers, which may have a mix of the young and old guard, PTI quoted a party functionary as saying. This is also expected to minimise chances of dissent among MLAs.
BS Yediyurappa had earlier visited Delhi to get a list of cabinet members approved. But BJP chief Amit Shah told him to focus on flood relief instead at a time when Karnataka was losing so many lives to the raging monsoon.
The opposition Congress and Janata Dal Secular, however, kept targeting BS Yediyurappa over the delay in forming the state cabinet. They even claimed that the lack of ministerial support was hurting flood relief efforts in the state.
"Is this what the BJP means by 'minimum government'? A cabinet without cabinet ministers? Will @BSYBJP wake up and stop our state from being mocked across the country?" the Congress had mocked BS Yediyurappa in a tweet on Saturday.
The BJP has 105 legislators in the 208-member assembly, besides the support of Independent legislator H Nagesh. With a reduction of 17 seats, the Congress now has 65 legislators and the Janata Dal Secular has 34.
The Congress and the Janata Dal Secular have accused the BJP of engineering the fall of their coalition government by bribing legislators with promises of power and money. BS Yediyurappa, however, denies the claim.
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