BSY’s next big challenge: Naming district ministers

BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who must have put his feet up after allotting portfolios to the newly inducted ministers on Monday and carrying out a minor reshuffle on Tuesday, has yet another challenge before him... allotting the district-in-charge ministries. With the inclusion of ten new ministers, the cabinet now has a strength of 28. A month after 17 ministers took oath in the first exercise, Yediyurappa allotted district in-charge posts, and some of the ministers were given two districts to manage.

Though many of them demanded certain districts, the CM convinced them to handle others. “Health Minister B Sriramulu, who is also the MLA from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district, wanted Ballari, where he hails from. But the CM did not oblige. The new minister, Anand Singh, who is Vijayanagara MLA, too is eying Ballari,’’ sources said. There has been a demand for a separate district carved out of Ballari, but Yediyurappa has denied any such moves. This means that Ballari district should be handed over to one minister, who is likely to be Anand Singh. 

In Haveri, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is from the Shiggaon in Haveri, is the district in-charge minister. Now, BC Patil from Hirekerur in the same district is also in the cabinet. Both ministers may pitch for this district. Jagadish Shettar is handling Belagavi, which has four ministers now. To strike a balance, Yediyurappa may ask ministers to handle districts that are not their own. But the task will be quite challenging.