JOIN USSulking Anand Singh might have to wait longer for portfolio change
The BJP central leadership is not inclined to fulfill the demands of Tourism, Environment and Ecology Minister Anand Singh, who is sulking over not being given a ‘better’ portfolio.
According to sources, the high command has informed Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai that there won’t be any immediate Cabinet reshuffle and that ministers should work in the departments allotted.
Even an expansion of the Cabinet, by inducting ministers to the four vacant berths, would take two months, sources added.
Singh and Municipalities and Small Scale Industries Minister M T B Nagaraj - who defected from the Congress-JD(S) coalition, are disgruntled over the allocation of portfolios.
While Nagaraj mellowed down following his meeting with the CM, Singh has remained unhappy despite two meetings with Bommai over the last couple of weeks. He is yet to officially take charge of his new department, it is said.
“The posturing by Singh will not yield him any benefits. The high command has directed the CM to not bow down to such tactics,” a senior minister in the Cabinet said.
Even the threat of his resignation has not swayed any opinion in favour of Singh. “Resignation threat will be futile as putting down his papers two years from general elections will be counter-productive. Moreover, defying the high command will bear heavily in Singh’s mind before he takes any such steps,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, according to sources, Cabinet expansion would likely take place in the next two months when the four vacant berths will be filled by the CM.
“Though several BJP legislators have camped in Delhi lobbying for the vacant positions over the course of the month, it's still unclear who will be accommodated. The party leadership could prefer fresh faces or those dropped from former chief minister B S Yediyurappa’s Cabinet,” a source added.