Shobha Karandlaje, MP, said on Friday that the State Cabinet would be expanded after the problem of floods in the State was resolved.
Speaking to presspersons here, Ms. Karandlaje said that though Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had gone to New Delhi to hold talks with senior leaders of the party with regard to the expansion of the Cabinet on August 6, it could not take place as the former Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away on that day.
Then, there was heavy rain and floods in North Karnataka, especially Belagavi, and the party decided to give top priority to rescue and relief operations. Hence, Mr. Yediyurappa rushed to Belagavi to supervise relief work, she said.
On the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s statement questioning where Mr. Yediyurappa was, Ms. Karandlaje said that Mr. Yediyurappa was touring flood-affected areas in the State. “Mr. Kumaraswamy is frustrated and angry after losing his Chief Minister’s post, hence he is making such statements,” she said.
On the Congress stand on Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh becoming Union Territories, Ms. Karandlaje said that it was the first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru’s policy which was responsible for the Kashmir imbroglio. Conferring special status on Kashmir under Article 370 was wrong. The Congress response showed its bankruptcy. “We are saddened by the Congress stand,” she said.
The BJP had always been against Article 370 and this was clear in its manifesto. The party had implemented what it had promised in its manifestos. The people of the country had supported the Union government on this move. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had made it clear that even Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) should come back to India, she said.