Cabinet formation: Unhappy MLAs ganging up?

Bommai plays down meeting of legislators

Unhappy over missing the Cabinet bus, a section of BJP legislators reportedly met at former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi’s residence late on Thursday evening.

MLAs Arvind Bellad, Raju Gouda, Srimanth Patil and Mahesh Kumtahalli and MLC C P Yogeshwar were among those who participated in the meeting.

The development came after several legislators felt they were treated unfairly as Bommai’s list of new ministers did not feature their names. Primary among the disgruntled included Bellad and Yogeshwar - they reportedly lobbied extensively for the ouster of B S Yediyurappa as the chief minister - apart from Jarkiholi who was forced to resign after an alleged sex scandal.

Bellad and Yogeshwar were reportedly expecting plum berths in the Cabinet after Yediyurappa resigned, but were left disappointed. Both Bellad and Yogeshwar had camped in Delhi before the new list of ministers was announced. Bellad’s name had even done the rounds as a possible replacement for Yediyurappa before the BJP central leadership chose Basavaraj Bommai for the top post.

There was speculation that Ramesh’s brother Balachandra Jarkiholi would make it to the Cabinet. That did not happen. The current Cabinet is the first since 2004 to not have any member of the Jarkiholi family.

Kumtahalli and Patil are also learnt to have expressed their disagreement. Kumatahalli is a loyalist of Ramesh and was among the first to jump ship to the BJP from the previous Congress-JD(S) coalition.

Apart from this group of leaders, other MLAs, too, have expressed their dissatisfaction. On Thursday, MLA Nehru Olekar had warned that a team of disgruntled legislators will be formed shortly. He even blamed Bommai for his name being left out of the Cabinet.

When asked about MLAs’ meeting at Jarkiholi’s house, Bommai dismissed it.