7 new ministers sworn in as K’taka expands cabinet

NEW DELHI: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa inducted seven new ministers into his cabinet on Wednesday in a move that triggered an immediate backlash from aspiring ministers who were left out of the 18-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

Four members of the legislative assembly and three members of the legislative council were administered the oath of office at Raj Bhavan by governor Vajubhai

Vala in the presence of BJP general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, state BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, party legislators and families of the inductees.

The new ministers include MLAS Umesh Katti (representing Hukkeri), Arvind Limbavalli (Mahadevapura), S Angara (Sullia) and Murugesh Nirani (Bilgi).the upper house members inducted into the cabinet were MTB Nagaraj, R Shankar and CP Yogeshwara.

Some of the newly inducted ministers are political veterans -Katti is an eight- term MLA and Angara a six-term legislator while, Limbavali has served three terms in the assembly plus a stint in the upper house. Nirani, Yogeshwar and Nagaraj have been elected thrice as legislators. Except for Angara and Shankar, all of them have been ministers several times.

More than a dozen legislators voiced their disappointment at not being made ministers. Renukacharya, the political secretary to the CM, who represents Honnali, broke down in front of Arun Singh.