Seniors not likely to make it to new Bommai cabinet

BENGALURU: With 61-year-old BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai all set to take oath on Wednesday as new Chief Minister of Karnataka, some senior leaders who had served in the Yediyurappa ministry are apprehensive about finding a place in his cabinet.

However, turncoats are likely to be retained. A day after B S Yediyurappa resigned as Chief Minister, the buzz is that senior ministers, including  Yediyurappa’s loyalists, are unlikely to be part of the new team. Central BJP leaders are keen to revamp the cabinet, and are likely to remove non-performers and some seniors.  

Sources said that senior leader Jagadish Shettar, who had earlier served as Chief Minister and was also a minister in the Yediyurappa cabinet, might not be part of Bommai’s team. BJP sources said that Shettar had agreed to work in Yediyurappa’s team as he was much senior to him. Sources said that RDPR Minister KS Eshwarappa might not make it either, though it again depends on the party high command’s decision.

Though many leaders from the state BJP unit believe that the turncoats, who were inducted in the cabinet by Yediyurappa for helping him form the government, might get a place, it is not sure if they will be allowed to retain the same portfolios. Yediyurappa had given important portfolios to most of the leaders who had joined the BJP from the Congress and JDS. Sources in the party said that since Bommai is Yediyurappa’s man, he might not remove any of the turncoats. 

An audio clip, purportedly of BJP state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel, had created ripples in political circles, as the speaker had mentioned a change in leadership and the party’s plans to drop senior ministers. However, Kateel denied that it was his voice and has demanded a probe.