Only bypoll winners to be made Ministers; Cabinet expansion by month-end: BSY
Bengaluru,
Dec
17:
Karnataka
Chief
Minister
B
S
Yediyurappa
on
Tuesday
made
it
clear
that
only
those
MLAs
who
won
the
recent
bypolls
will
be
made
ministers
and
no
one
else.
With
cabinet
expansion
on
the
cards
ever
since
the
BJP
secured
a
comfortable
majority
in
the
Assembly
by
winning
12
of
the
15
constituencies
which
went
to
by-elections
on
December
five,
hectic
lobbying
has
started
for
ministerial
berths.
Many aspirants have made a beeline for the Chief Minister, seeking to push their case. The minister for health and family welfare B Sriramulu is keen to get the post of Deputy Chief Minister.
"We have already said that those who have won the recent assembly byelections will be made ministers. There is no question of making others ministers," Yediyurappa told reporters here.
"I will go to Delhi after December 21 or 22 and get the matter (cabinet expansion) resolved. The oath-taking (by the new ministers) will take place by the end of the month," the Chief Minister added.
The Karnataka government can have 34 ministers, including Chief Minister, of which 18 have been filled. MLAs G Somashekar Reddy, Murugesh Nirani, Umesh Katti, Ramesh Jarkiholi and deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi met Yediyurappa on Tuesday and are believed to have discussed cabinet expansion.
Karnataka may soon have 5 Deputy CM, speculation rife about creating more
BJP sources said Jarkiholi had put forth his demand to make him Deputy Chief Minister with the plum Water Resources portfolio.