Karnataka cabinet expansion: 10 new ministers take oath

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday (February 6) inducted 10 new ministers into his cabinet. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru. Many of these MLAs had switched sides from the Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress parties last year.

Constituency-wise, the newly inducted ministers at the Raj Bhavan included Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapura), Shrimanth Patil (Kagwad), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Narayana Gowda (KR Pete), K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), ST Somashekar (Yeshwantpur), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura) and Anand Singh (Vijayanagara).

Among the new ministers, Gopalaiah is said to have a stronghold in his constituency Mahalakshmi Layout with the ability to attract Janata Dal (Secular) voters into the BJP fold.

Sudhakar from Chikkaballapura is known for getting a medical college sanctioned and developmental work in the constituency. Hailing from the Vokkaliga community, Sudhakar is expected to be a strength to the ruling party as he has no strong competition in the region.

The BJP hopes to use Patil from Belagavi region to help convert Congress votes in favour of the ruling party. In December, these MLAs contested by-polls on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket and managed to secure a victory.

In the by-polls held in Karnataka's 15 Assembly constituencies, the BJP had won 12, while Congress managed to bag only two. One seat was won by an Independent candidate. The JDS drew a blank. 

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Earlier, commenting on the Cabinet expansion, Yediyurappa has said that as per directions from the central leadership of the party, only 10 members will take administered oath.

He also confirmed that Umesh Katti, an influential MLA, will be later inducted into the cabinet and given a ministerial berth.

Thursday's state cabinet expansion comes after much squabbling over the names of 13 rebel MLAs who had defected from Congress-JDS would be sworn in, however, the dynamics appear to have changed within the BJP in the state.