Despite opposition, BS Yediyurappa assures Cabinet place for CP Yogeeshwar

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday asserted that MLC CP Yogeeshwar will become a minister, stoking fire among legislators who are already up in arms against him being inducted into the Cabinet.

“Yogeeshwar will be made a minister cent percent,” Yediyurappa told reporters in response to questions on MLAs opposing his induction into the Cabinet. Yediyurappa's claim comes even as the BJP central leadership is yet to approve the expansion or reshuffle of the Cabinet.

The possibility of Yogeeshwar’s induction into the Cabinet has divided the ruling BJP into two groups. One section of party MLAs led by CM’s political secretary MP Renukacharya is vehemently opposing it on the grounds that Yogeeshwar lost the 2018 Assembly election and there are other ‘deserving’ people who can become ministers.

Another group, which includes Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, is supporting Yogeeshwar’s bid to become a minister as a reward for his efforts to topple the Congress-JD(S) coalition. Jarkiholi was among the 17 MLAs who defected last year.

“What the CM has done is to put an end to all the confusion. I thank him and I’ll carry out whatever responsibility I’m given,” Yogeeshwar, a former actor, said. “The CM kept telling that he would take me in, but the right time hadn’t come.”

Yogeeshwar, who was a minister in the previous BJP government, is a Vokkaliga. It is said that the BJP central leadership wants to groom him as the community’s face for the party in the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysuru region. Last week, Yogeeshwar said many in the party were against his political growth.

“We (MLAs) have already expressed our feelings with the CM, the party’s state president and others. While we don’t have the power to question the CM’s authority, we will again convey what we feel,” Renukacharya said.

Even BJP MLC AH Vishwanath expressed heartburn on Yogeeshwar becoming a minister. Apparently, Yogeeshwar sabotaged Vishwanath’s Hunsur bypoll campaign leading to his defeat.

“The party should know what Yogeeshwar did during the Hunsur election and the conspiracy against me. He spoiled the atmosphere by declaring himself as the candidate,” Vishwanath said. “The same Yediyurappa had asked Yogeeshwar to deliver a big amount of money to me for financial help. But, Yogeeshwar didn’t show up in Hunsur at all. How can such people be trusted with a ministerial position? What is their loyalty to the party?”