Basavaraj Bommai hints at delay in Karnataka Cabinet expansion

Inclusion of new ministers to the Cabinet will take more time as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will likely have to travel to Delhi twice before getting a go-ahead from the party high command.

“I will visit Delhi on Friday to seek the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and party chief JP Nadda. Two-three days after that, I will meet them again in Delhi. Discussions about the Cabinet formation would be held then, and ministers would be selected,” Bommai said.

On former chief minister Jagadish Shettar expressing his unwillingness to join his Cabinet, Bommai said that he had already spoken to him, and would speak to him again. “We have mutual love and admiration, and we maintained cordial relationship even when we were in different parties. His feelings will be conveyed to the party’s top brass, and the issue will be resolved,” he said.

Pressure from groups of MLAs, Bommai said, was common ahead of any Cabinet expansion, he told reporters in Bengaluru.

Read | CM Bommai has full freedom to pick his team: BSY

“When I visit Delhi, I will make use of the time available to meet all MPs and Union ministers from Karnataka, and hold discussions about the pending issues of the state,” he said. The CM said that he would hold separate talks on pending GST dues to Karnataka.

“I am overseeing the issue of GST compensation,” Bommai, who was Karnataka’s representative in the GST council under the previous B S Yediyurappa government, said. The Rs 18,000 crore shortage under GST compensation this year will be provided by the Centre by raising loans, like it was last year.

“I will hold separate discussions in the coming days and ensure we get what we are owed,” he said.

Upper Krishna project

Assuring that he would give top priority for the implementation of the third phase of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP), Bommai hoped that the permission to increase the height of Almatti Dam from the present 519 meters to 524 meters would be granted soon. A petition on the issue is expected to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court in one and a half months.

This project would boost agriculture and economic growth of north Karnataka region. After getting the approval and gazette notification, resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) plan would also be prepared before increasing the height of the dam, Bommai noted.