Only I decide portfolios, says Bommai after cabinet expansion as mild protests erupt

NEW DELHI: Exactly a week after getting sworn in Karnataka chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday expanded his cabinet and said only he would decide portfolio allocation to the newly-sworn ministers. The portfolios would be allotted in a day or two, he added, amidst mild protests from BJP supporters over exclusion of some MLAs in his government.
Soon after Karnataka governor Thawar Chand Gehlot administered oath of office and secrecy to the 29 new ministers, Basavaraj held the first cabinet meeting. Subsequently, he said portfolios would be allocated to the new ministers in one of two days.
Asked whether the BJP high command would take decisions in this regard, he retorted that it was his prerogative and he was the only one who took a call on allocation of portfolios.
Even before Basavaraj was sworn in as Karnataka CM on July 28, there were murmurs that he would be a rubber stamp CM who would act on the wishes of his predecessor BS Yediyurappa.
Both Basavaraj and Yediyurappa belong to the powerful Lingayat community which constitutes 16 per cent of the state’s population and wields considerable influence on its polity.
Basavaraj may be trying to break that image of him being a shadow CM.
He also said that there was no pressure from any of the ministers to allocate a specific portfolio or to continue the one which they had earlier.
Bommai defended the selection of Shashikala Jolle, who is facing allegations of corruption. "There is no complaint in the case against her. It has many dimensions. However, I will look into the matter," he said.
"There are only 34 cabinet berths and all legislators know this. Some have been inducted and some have been left out. Whenever there is an opportunity, the party will give them responsibilities," he maintained.
On the senior leaders who were dropped, he said that the party after considering their organising skills, would utilise their strength in the right direction.
Bommai also announced three major decisions taken in the first cabinet meeting with the ministers.
"All ministers are directed to reach out to the districts to address the flood and Covid situations and take up relief measures. The Covid Task Force will be formed immediately after allocation of portfolios," he said.
The cabinet also took a decision to fulfil the long-standing demand of the Scheduled Tribe community to establish the 'ST Welfare Secretariat’. It was also decided to create a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of the chief minister to coordinate between various departments on projects concerning women and child empowerment as per the announcement made by Yediyurappa in the budget presented in March.
Meanwhile, emotionally charged protests broke out in various parts of North Karnataka where BJP aspirants were hoping to make it to Bommai's cabinet.
Supporters of Yediyurappa's bitterest critic, Aravind Bellad, Dalit leader from Haveri district, Neharu Olekar and Scheduled Tribe leader, Narasimha (Raju Gouda) Nayak of Surpur in Kalaburagi district, erupted in protests.
Bellad's supporters in Hubballi shouted slogans demanding ministerial berth for their leader but did not raise any slogans against any leader in the state, while Olekar's supporters carried out "Urulu Seve" (rolling over) in Haveri in protest, whereas Nayak's supporters held a sit-in protest in Bengaluru.
Among three leaders, Olekar, the MLA from Haveri Assembly constituency, openly criticised Bommai, who represents Shiggaon constituency in Haveri district.
"I will raise my concerns with Sangh Parivar leaders. I cannot share anything about my anger with you (media) people but surely tell everything to people who matter in the party and Sangh Parivar," he said.
He added that the party will have to bear the brunt of such wrong decisions of accommodating two leaders (Bommai and BC Patil) from the same community from Haveri at the expense of Dalits and backward classes.
"Both of these leaders (Bommai and Patil) belonged to a politically dominant community... when will people like us get a chance?" a BJP Dalit leader of Haveri shot back in response to a question by a local channel.
As soon as supporters of the Surpur MLA gathered in Bengaluru, Nayak arrived at the spot and requested his supporters to wind up their protest. "Protests like this won't fetch any ministerial berth. I have all along treated BJP as akin to my mother, maybe mother may have chosen to feed her own son a bit late compared to her foster sons (defectors who joined BJP in 2019). Let us wind up this protest," he said.
Talking to media persons, Nayak, known for his wry humour, said that his name always crops whenever talk of cabinet reshuffle or cabinet expansion comes to the fore but he doesn't know what happens to his name as it fails to enter Raj Bhavan within the list.
"I don't know why this happens to me," he quipped.
(With inputs from IANS)