BS Yediyurappa in hospital, cabinet rejig before Independence Day may be delayed

BENGALURU: BS Yediyurappa’s plan to restructure his cabinet before Independence Day is likely to be delayed as the chief minister is in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.
Speculations were rife of a cabinet expansion and reshuffle by mid-August, as Yediyurappa wanted to show doors to some ministers in order to accommodate his supporters and also to bring about caste balance in the ministry.

On Sunday night, the CM’s office said he was tested positive for Covid-19 and was hospitalised. Although the 77-year-old BJP leader is said to be asymptomatic, he was hospitalised considering his age. As per the protocol, Covid patients have to remain in hospital at least for 11 days, followed by a week-long home quarantine.

Sources in the CM’s office said since Yediyurappa would refrain from political activities at least for 10 days or even more, he might not expand or reshuffle the cabinet in a hurry this month.

Amid the Covid crisis, Karnataka witnessed political activities last week, after three ministers — deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi, Shashikala Jolle and Ramesh Jarkiholi — made a whirlwind trip to Delhi, apparently to meet the party’s central leadership. While Savadi and Jolle reportedly rushed to the national capital to make a case for themselves and save their posts, Jarkiholi’s trip was said to be an attempt to lobby for some of his supporters. A year after the BJP government came to power in the state, six berths in the 34-member Karnataka cabinet remain vacant. In February, Yediyurappa had inducted 10 ministers, all former Congress-JD(S) members who had quit their parties and later contested and won on BJP tickets.

The cabinet reshuffle planned for this month was also seen as a tightrope walk for Yediyurappa, as he had the hard task of quelling the dissent within the party. Besides the compulsion to induct three recently elected MLCs — MTB Nagaraj, R Shankar and H Vishwanath — party insiders said Yediyurappa had to restructure the cabinet to bring about a caste balance as well. The 28-member cabinet has nine Lingayats and seven Vokkaligas, and these numbers are seen as disproportionate.

The chief minister was said to be keen on inducting MLC CP Yogeshwar who had played a key role in bringing the BJP to power. Senior leaders like eight-term legislator Umesh Katti too are vying for a post.