Dissatisfaction comes to the fore as Yediyurappa allocates portfolios, effects reshuffle

Madhuswamy loses Law and Minor Irrigation, while Nagaraju gets Excise

January 21, 2021 02:40 pm | Updated 11:51 pm IST - BENGALURU:

Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa

Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa

Dissatisfaction came to the fore again in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, as Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday effected a major reshuffle of ministerial portfolios while also allocating berths to the seven newly inducted Ministers.

Among the new Ministers, who were inducted on January 13, Umesh Katti has been given Food and Civil Supplies which was hitherto held by K. Gopalaiah, who migrated to the BJP from the JD(S). Murugesh Nirani has been given Mines and Geology portfolio which was held by C.C. Patil, while Arvind Limbavali has been given the Forest Department which was earlier held by B.S. Anand Singh.

R. Shankar has been given Municipal Administration and Sericulture while S. Angara has got Fisheries and Ports. C.P. Yogeshwar has got Minor Irrigation and N. Nagaraju (MTB), who was expecting a plum portfolio such as Housing, has instead been given Excise.

The surprise in the Thursday’s ministerial reshuffle was J.C. Madhuswamy, who had become the voice of the government in the legislature sessions, being stripped off Law and Parliamentary Affairs as well as Minor Irrigation departments. He has now been given Medical Education and Kannada and Culture portfolios. Mr. Madhuswamy admitted that he had requested the Chief Minister that he be allowed to retain Minor Irrigation. Law and Parliamentary Affairs charge has now been given to Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Similarly, K.C. Narayana Gowda, who had earlier held Horticulture and Sericulture departments, has to be now satisfied with Youth Empowerment and Sports and Haj and Wakfs departments. Interestingly, the Chief Minister continues to hold prominent portfolios, including Energy. In all, he has effected changes in the portfolios of 11 Ministers, including himself, besides assigning portfolios to seven new Ministers.

It did not take much time for dissatisfaction to come out as Mr. Nagaraju publicly stated that the Excise Department was not a portfolio of his choice and that he wanted some portfolio which would help him in serving poor people. Several Ministers, who have lost major portfolios, met at the residence of Health Minister K. Sudhakar for sometime.

Even efforts by senior Minister R. Ashok and the Chief Minister himself did not appear to have yielded results as four Ministers, — Dr. Sudhakar, Mr. Madhuswamy, Mr. Nagaraju, and Mr. Gopalaiah — did not attend the Cabinet meeting held later in the day.

On his part, the Chief Minister said the issue of dissatisfaction over portfolio allocation had been resolved by him after holding consultations with them. Maintaining that it was a tough task to allocate portfolios without giving room for dissatisfaction, he said, “Let the Ministers begin work in the portfolios allocated to them. If there is a need, we can change their portfolios in the days to come.”

Speaking after the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Bommai claimed that those who abstained themselves had sought permission earlier since they had other engagements.

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