Ministerial aspirants in Karnataka BJP begin lobbying

Ministerial aspirants in Karnataka BJP have begun intense lobbying to get a berth in the new regime as chief minister Basavaraj Bommai gears up to expand his Cabinet in about a week. Bommai announced at Hubballi airport that he will visit Delhi on Friday to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda to seek their blessings. He said he will not discuss the Cabinet expansion as this will be his first visit to Delhi as CM. He will, instead, seek time in two-three days to discuss the exercise.

Since Bommai always identified himself with former CM BS Yediyurappa, a number of MLAs have been flocking to his house requesting his intervention, some of them even showing a desperation to make it this time. They are vying with each other to be seen with the CM so that he remembers them while drawing up the list.

Speculation that the Bommai ministry will not have many of the old faces has given jitters to some, especially the turncoat team members with whose support Yediyurappa formed the government two years ago. They have now regrouped, projecting themselves as one bloc, and are trying to bring collective pressure on both Yediyurappa and Bommai to secure their places in the Cabinet. BJP members, however, said the CM may induct only some of them in view of compulsions to strike a balance region-wise and caste-wise.


In this context, Bengaluru’s share in the new ministry may come down a bit. Some of the leaders in the CM’s race before such as R Ashoka, Murugesh Nirani and Aravind Bellad are trying for a Cabinet position. Ashoka is said to be lobbying hard for deputy CM’s post and Nirani for a comeback as minister.

Industries minister in the previous regime Jagadish Shettar has said he does not want to be a member of the Cabinet. Shettar, a former CM, and Bommai come from the same region, and both had even fought each other in an assembly election in which Shettar won.