Yeddyurappa plans cabinet expansion after netting four Opposition MLAs

After successfully luring four Opposition MLAs – two each from the Congress and JD (S) – the BJP Government in Karnataka is planning a cabinet expansion in the next one week.

Bolstered by the entry of four Opposition MLAs into the BJP, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa announced that he would expand his 31-member Ministry before the Budget session of the State Assembly begins on July 17.

Yeddyurappa’s announcement on the cabinet expansion came after four MLAs belonging to the Opposition tendered their resignation to the Assembly and joined the BJP during the last 48 hours.

Congress MLAs Anand Asnotikar and J Narasimhaswamy and JD (S) legislators Balachandra Jharkiholi and Shivananda Naik submitted their resignation from the Assembly to Speaker and joined the BJP in the presence of party’s senior leaders.

The four MLAs, who have also resigned from the primary membership of their respective parent parties, will now be contesting the by-elections from their own constituencies as BJP candidates.

Meanwhile, the Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar said he had accepted the resignation letters of the four MLAs and would forward the same to the Election Commission, which will fix the date of the by-election to fill the vacancies caused on account the resignations.

Though it is speculated that a couple of MLAs, who have switched their allegiance to the BJP, will be accommodated in the BJP Cabinet, which is scheduled to be expanded in one week’s time, Yeddyurappa refused to divulge the names of the persons to be inducted into the cabinet.

“Given the pressure on me with regard to Ministerial berths, it would be better to avoid mentioning the names. Also, I will have to seek the concurrence of the party High Command in the matter”, Yeddyurappa said when asked to name the prospective Ministerial candidates.

The Yeddyurappa-led Ministry already has a total of 31 members against the optimum strength of 34.

Meanwhile, resignation of four Opposition MLAs has strengthened the BJP’s position in Assembly. The BJP, which had secured 110 seats in the 224-member Assembly, was surviving on the support extended to it by six independent MLAs, who have been given ministerial berths.

The luring of four Opposition MLAs is understood to be part of the BJP’s strategy to improve its tally in the Assembly, which had fallen three short of simple majority. Even if the resignations of four MLAs do not immediately add to the BJP’s tally, the strength of the combined Opposition has come down from 108 to 104. The Congress party’s strength has come down from 80 to 78 while the JD (S) tally has been reduced to 26 from 28.