Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on August 20 expanded his ministry by inducting 17 MLAs. This was his first cabinet expansion since coming to power on July 26.
The 17 MLAs inducted into the cabinet comprise of a balanced mixture of tried-and-tested veterans and a few newcomers who helped the BJP topple the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka, The Indian Express has reported.
Of the 17, at least seven MLAs belong to the dominant Lingayat community, to which even Yediyurappa belongs.
Besides, the new cabinet has three Vokkaligas (another dominant community), three members belonging to the Scheduled Caste, two Backward Castes, one Brahmin, and one Scheduled Tribe member, the newspaper has reported.
Four MLAs are from Bengaluru while the others are representatives of northern districts of Karnataka, where the BJP and Lingayats have a large support base.
The coastal region of the state, where the saffron party enjoys a significant clout, has one representative in the cabinet – Kota Shrinivas Poojari. He belongs to the Billava community, a large backward caste.
In addition, the BJP rewarded the MLAs who helped pull the Congress-JD(S) coalition down. For instance, young Bengaluru MLA CN Ashwathnarayan, who played a key role in moving rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs to Mumbai, has been given a cabinet berth.
The Independent H Nagesh, who is also a Dalit, and who defected to the BJP ditching his own cabinet position in the previous government, is also being inducted.
Former JDU leader JC Madhuswamy, a Lingayat, who played the crucial role of guiding the BJP to victory during the trust vote, is also a part of BSY’s cabinet.
BJP veterans in the cabinet include Basavaraj Bommai, Jagadish Shettar, and BB Sreeramulu among others.
Dalit leader Prabhu Chavan is a new inductee and Shashikala Jolle, a lingayat, is the only woman in the cabinet.
The 17-member cabinet was administered the oath of office by Governor Vajubhai Vala at 10:30 am on August 20.
Keen on inducting more of the 15 Congress-JD(S) rebel MLAs, who played their part in toppling the previous government, BSY has left 17 cabinet posts vacant. The rebel MLAs, who were disqualified and barred from being a part of the legislature by Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, are fighting a case in the Supreme Court over the issue.
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