Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said the expansion of his ministry will take place on February 6 and 13 MLAs will take the oath of office.
Ten legislators who had joined the BJP from other parties, including the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), will be among those who will be inducted into the cabinet, he said.
Yediyurappa had on January 31 received the nod from his party's central leadership for expanding his six-month-old cabinet.
The exercise has been on the cards ever since the BJP won 12 of the 15 seats in the December 5, 2019, assembly bypolls, helping the Yediyurappa government retain a majority in the House.
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"The cabinet expansion will take place on February 6 with the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan at 10.30 am," the chief minister told reporters here.
Thirteen MLAs, including 10 who had joined the BJP from other parties, including Congress and JD(S), will take the oath of office, he said.
Earlier, Yediyurappa had said that most of the disqualified JD(S)-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets would be made ministers, but there would not be additional deputy chief ministers.
He had given an assurance to all 11 re-elected legislators that they would be made ministers. The announcement dealt a blow to the MLAs who had defected from the Congress and the JD(S) and were instrumental in helping the BJP secure a majority in the Karnataka Assembly.
MLAs Mahesh Kumatahalli, Vishwanath and Nagaraj reminded Yediyurappa of 'vachana dharma', the religious obligation to fulfil a promise. Vishwanath reminded Yediyurappa of his obligation to fulfil his promise.
"It is up to him to keep his 'vachana dharma'. I am not going to call him. It is up to him," an apparently aggrieved Vishwanath told reporters in Mysuru. Currently, there are 18 ministers, including the chief minister, in the cabinet, which has a sanctioned strength of 34. Sixteen berths are vacant.
The cabinet expansion exercise will be a delicate task for Yediyurappa as he has to ensure adequate representation of various castes and regions. Opposition parties have been critical of the BJP and Yediyurappa over the delay in the cabinet expansion, alleging that he is weak and his administration has collapsed. (PTI copy)
