Cabinet expansion: Karnataka CM to meet Amit Shah on January 17

BENGALURU: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s recent efforts to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah over cabinet expansion plans have been in vain. He has now decided to discuss it with Shah when he arrives in Karnataka for the pro-CAA rally later this week.
On Saturday, when quizzed by the media over his proposed trip to Delhi on January 11 or 12, Yediyurappa said the visit has been scrapped.“When Shah arrives in Karnataka on January 17 and 18, I’ll have talks with him about the cabinet expansion,” he said. This also means his trip to Davos, scheduled for January 19, will, in all probability, be scrapped.
According to party leaders, the main reason for not getting an appointment to meet Modi or Shah is the Delhi state elections on February 9. Meanwhile, the rest of Yediyurappa’s cabinet is unaware of reasons for the delay in cabinet expansion.
Senior BJP legislator and RDPR minister KS Eshwarappa said these matters take time. “I’m no fortune teller. The central leadership has to take a decision on whom to induct. But there’s no question of us dropping the disqualified legislators (now BJP MLAs),” he said.
It has been over a month (since December 5, 2019) since the 11 disqualified legislators won the bypolls on BJP tickets and pressure has been mounting on Yediyurappa to induct them into his cabinet. It was postponed on account of the inauspicious month of Dhanurmasa and the central leadership delaying its approval.