Bommai to meet the BJP's national leadership on Monday, 26 December; Eshwarappa and Jarkiholi likely to be included in the Cabinet.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai held a meeting with the former ministers KS Eshwarappa and Ramesh Jarkiholi at VTU Guest House in Belagavi. (Supplied)
Senior leaders of the ruling BJP in Karnataka are putting pressure on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to expand the Cabinet, four months before the next election to the state legislative Assembly.
Their demand came even as politically influential community leaders were seeking an increased reservation for community members in admissions to educational institutions and government jobs.
The Bommai cabinet now has 28 ministers against the Constitution-permitted strength of 34. The chief minister and Minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayan are holding four or more portfolios.
BJP veteran and Shivamogga MLA KS Eshwarappa has openly expressed his unhappiness over not re-inducting him into the Cabinet even after the investigative agencies had absolved him in the Santosh Patil suicide case.
Eshwarappa resigned from the Cabinet on 14 April 2022 after Belagavi-based contractor Patil committed suicide in a Udupi lodge.
The deceased had accused Eashwarappa, then holding the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj portfolio, of demanding a 40 percent commission for clearing his dues.
On 19 December, the first day of the Assembly’s winter session, Eshwarappa said he would stay away from the House until he is re-inducted into the cabinet.
“I am being denied a ministerial position despite the investigative agencies giving me a clean chit in the contractor suicide case,” he protested.
The Shivamogga MLA also accused Bommai of making false promises.
“Bommai is making fake promises, saying I will be included in the Cabinet. Whenever I approach the chief minister, he says he will bless me a berth in his cabinet but I am perplexed why he is not expanding the cabinet,” Eshwarappa told reporters in Bagalkot recently.
Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, too, bunked the first two days of the winter session. He was miffed with Bommai for not including him in the cabinet despite getting a clean chit in an alleged sex-for-job scandal.
Jarkiholi, who held the Water Resources portfolio in the Yediyurappa ministry resigned on 3 March 2021 after an activist, Dinesh Kallahalli, released a CD. The CD contained a video purportedly of the minister getting intimate with a woman.
It was then alleged that he had promised the woman a job in return for sexual favours.
Eshwarappa and Jarkiholi met the chief minister in Belagavi after making their protest public. “These two legislators will attend the winter session. The duo had met me regarding the cabinet expansion. I have told them about the meeting with the party high command in Delhi,” Bommai later told reporters.
After meeting the chief minister, the dissenting MLAs attended the Assembly on Thursday, 22 December.
“The chief minister has promised to induct us in the Cabinet. He will fly to Delhi on Monday, 26 December, to discuss the Cabinet expansion with the party high command,” Eshwarappa told reporters at Belagavi on Thursday.
“Of the six vacant Cabinet posts, the chief minister has assured two slots to me and Jarkiholi. He will seek the high command’s approval for the remaining four posts. We have trust in the chief minister. We will attend the remaining days of the winter session,” he added.
Bommai is scheduled to meet the party’s national leaders on Monday, 26 December.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) confirmed Bommai’s Delhi to South First. However, the CMO did not disclose his itinerary.
Recently Bommai said that he had raised the issue of re-inducting Eshwarappa and Jarkiholi before the national leadership.
“They have given a positive response,” the chief minister said, adding that he could not reveal all that was discussed to the media.
“The remaining matters have already been discussed with the former ministers,” Bommai said.
On his Delhi visit, the chief minister on Saturday, 24 December, said he would discuss the state’s development issues, preparations for the Assembly polls and other matters.
“We will also discuss state politics,” he added but remained silent on a possible cabinet expansion. The BJP’s Karnataka unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel will accompany Bommai to Delhi.
Members from the Veerashaiva-Lingayats or Lingayats and Vokkaligas communities now dominate the Bommai Cabinet. Nine ministers belong to the Lingayat community, while seven are Vokkaligas.
Three ministers are Dalits, Brahmin, Kuruba and Billava communities have two ministers each, while Rajput and Naidu communities have one minister each.
When it comes to regional dominance, Bengaluru has the highest representation in the Cabinet with eight ministers, two each from Haveri, Bagalkot, Tumkur and Dakshina Kannada and one each from Dharwad, Koppal, Shivamogga, Vijayanagara, Chitradurga, Gadag, Bidar, Uttara Kannada, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkabalapur, Udupi and Belagavi.
Surprisingly, prominent districts such as Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Davanagere and Raichur do not have ministers in the Bommai Cabinet. It may be noted that the BJP has won at least two Assembly segments each in the five districts.
Meanwhile, lobbying for Cabinet berths has intensified. “The aspirants are already knocking at the doors of the party high command, demanding cabinet berths on caste and regional basis,” a party source told South First.
On the possible Cabinet expansion, BJP state general secretary and MLC N Ravikumar said that the party’s high command would make a final decision.
“At present, Chief Minister Bommai is holding multiple portfolios. It will be difficult for him to manage and take major decisions on development works. With hardly a few months left for the Assembly polls, it is an appropriate time to expand the cabinet,” Ravikumar told South First when asked about the timing of the Cabinet expansion.
He further added: “Whether it is four months left or one week for the polls, the Cabinet expansion will not only benefit the party but also the state. In the possible cabinet expansion, the high command will stress addressing the caste and regional imbalance.”
“The party high command has already approved the inclusion of Eshwarappa and Jarkiholi in the Cabinet. The names for the remaining four posts will be finalised. All the 224 MLAs aspire to become ministers. However, as per norms, only 34 can be blessed with ministerial posts,” he added.
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