In a much-awaited event of Karnataka politics, finally, BS Yeddyurappa has sworn in his 17 ministers to form Karnataka cabinet system. Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar also got a portfolio in the cabinet expansion.
Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath to newly inducted 17 MLAs as ministers at the Raj Bhavan today. The cabinet expansion comes after three weeks since Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was sworn in. Congress-JD(S) government has lost its strength in the house, owing to which HD Kumaraswamy was ousted from his chair.
On 16th August, BS Yeddyurappa had come to Delhi to meet the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss his plans of cabinet expansion. Now with Amit Shah‘s nod, the process of induction has begun. On Monday, BS Yeddyurappa had submitted the list of names to Governor Vajubhai Vala.
Karnataka’s new cabinet includes some prominent faces of state politics as former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, two ex-deputy chief ministers — KS Eshwarappa and R Ashoka were selected. Independent MLA H Nagesh and Laxman Sangappa Savadi and MLC Kota Srinivas Poojari, Govind M Karajol, Ashwath Narayan CN, B Sreeramulu, S Suresh Kumar, V Somanna, CT Ravi, Basavaraj Bommai, JC Madhu Swamy, CC Patil, Prabhu Chauhan are some other names. Only one woman Cabinet Minister has been sworn in, that is Shashikala Jolle Annasaheb.
#Karnataka: B Sriramulu takes oath as Karnataka Cabinet Minister, in the presence of Governor Vajubhai Vala and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/SFaVmiWDib
— ANI (@ANI) August 20, 2019
On a careful analysis of the cabinet, it appears that the Lingayat community has bagged the biggest proportion in this power. In the cabinet expansion, 50 percent of ministers (8 members) belong to the dominant Lingayat community. It was expected as BS Yeddyurappa (hailing from the same community) was keen on balancing the regional and caste power in the state.
Previously, Opposition parties have slammed the BJP government for delaying the expansion of cabinet, especially in the times of flood-crisis. They criticized Yeddyurappa for “one-man-show”.
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