Cabinet expansion after B S Yediyurappa's Davos trip

The much-awaited Cabinet expansion will be taken up after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s return from his overseas trip on January 24, as he was not able to formally discuss the issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday.

Yediyurappa was expected to discuss the expansion of his Cabinet with Shah during his visit to Karnataka. But according to several BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, the Cabinet expansion did not come up for discussion.

The CM is set to fly to Davos on January 19 to attend the World Economic Forum between January 21-24.

In the 34-member Cabinet, there are 16 vacant berths. Yediyurappa is under pressure from ministerial aspirants, including newly-elected legislators who were earlier with the Congress and the JD(S) as well as BJP legislators.

After a rally to create awareness on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Shah went to a hotel where BJP leaders queued up to meet him.

This included ministerial aspirants such as Ramesh Jarkiholi, Shrimant Patil, Mahesh Kumathalli, B C Patil and others. While Ramesh turned away reporters saying he was not allowed to meet Shah, B C Patil said he was able to meet the BJP national president, but “Cabinet expansion wasn’t discussed”. Shrimant Patil told reporters that he was “in no hurry” to become a minister.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister’s political secretary S R Vishwanath told reporters that the Cabinet expansion will not happen until after Yediyurappa’s return from Davos. “Whatever they may have discussed in Hubballi, the Cabinet expansion will not happen because of Yediyurappa’s foreign tour,” he said.

The CM will have to induct at least 12 Congress-JD(S) turncoats, 11 of whom won the recent bypolls on the BJP ticket. But speculation has it that the party’s central leadership is not keen on inducting all of them into the Cabinet.

Also, by the time Yediyurappa returns from Davos, Shah will be replaced by JP Nadda as the BJP national president.