Cabinet expansion on February 6: CM
BENGALURU:Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said that the cabinet expansion would take place on February 6, with 13 MLAs taking oath of office.
“The cabinet expansion will take place on February 6 with the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan at 10.30 am,” he told mediapersons here.
Thirteen MLAs, including 10 who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party from parties including Congress and the JD(S), will take oath, he said.
The leaders to be inducted include three senior BJP leaders— Arvind Limbavali, CP Yogeeshwara and Umesh Katti, whereas the other 10 include 17 disqualified MLAs in Karnataka.
According to people familiar with the development, MLA R Shankar is also likely to be included in the cabinet later.
The cabinet expansion has been on the cards for nearly two months ever since the BJP won the maximum number of seats in the December 5, 2019, bypolls and got a majority in the assembly.
Last year, the then assembly speaker had disqualified 17 Congress and JD(S) legislators after they revolted against the coalition government leading to its fall on July 13. Of them, 13 had contested the bypolls held for 15 assembly seats, and barring A H Vishwanath (Hunsur) and M T B Nagaraj (Hoskote) all others emerged triumphant on BJP tickets. Opposition parties have been targeting the government over the delay in cabinet expansion, alleging he was weak and that his administration had collapsed.