Karnataka Cabinet reshuffle on cards to bring fresh faces?

With eyes set on the 2023 Assembly elections and to ensure efficiency in the administration, the BJP is said to be mulling a major reshuffle of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s Cabinet.

Sources say that more than 10 ministers in the Cabinet will be shown the door to accommodate fresh, younger faces. This will be in line with the strategy employed by the saffron party in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

The reshuffle expected after the Sankranti festival will likely be a shot in the arm for Bommai, especially after rumours about his continuation. A new Cabinet may cement Bommai’s position until the 2023 polls, BJP sources say.

Also Read | What’s at the root of CM-change rumours?: ‘Maybe they stem from his insecurity’

The BJP central leadership is looking to sack inactive ministers who have contributed little to the party’s organisation in the state. A few senior ministers behind the whisper campaign against the CM could also be axed.

One senior minister was let off with a warning during the recently-held state executive committee meeting of the BJP, according to sources.

The minister was trying to muster the support of BJP MLAs during the recently-concluded Belagavi session, urging them to back him in case a new leader of the BJP legislature party gets elected.

Also Read | Bommai holds discussion with BJP top brass on cabinet reshuffle

Bommai had raised a complaint with BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, who was in Bengaluru recently.

The central leadership is also unhappy about the “understanding” of some ministers with Opposition leaders, sources say. Performance of the party in the recent elections for Legislative Council and urban local bodies will also have a bearing during the reshuffle.

As the party is keen on improving its tally in the next elections, the reshuffle will attempt to address any allegations of regional imbalance. Apart from that, representatives of communities that have backed BJP in successive elections will be accommodated, sources say.

Former Union minister Basangouda Patil Yatnal, who had aggressively campaigned for the ouster of former CM B S Yediyurappa, could be accommodated in the Cabinet in place of a Lingayat minister from north Karnataka, it is said.

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