BENGALURU: With the buzz around a reshuffle of the Union Cabinet after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a flurry of meetings over the last two days, speculation is rife that a BJP MP from Karnataka may be inducted. While the names of two BJP MPs from the Lingayat community are doing rounds, senior party leaders said the induction of a non-Lingayat MP cannot be ruled out.
On Friday, Modi held meetings with BJP national president J P Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and others. Modi is also meeting Union Ministers in batches over the last few days, giving rise to speculation about a rejig. Of the 28 MPs from Karnataka, 25 are from BJP. After the death of Union MoS for Railways, Suresh Angadi, his wife Mangala won the bypoll in Belagavi.
The names of four-time MP from Bagalkot, P C Gaddigoudar, and three-time MP from Haveri-Gadag, Shivakumar C Udasi, are currently doing the rounds. Both leaders are from the Lingayat community. Angadi was also a Lingayat. Coincidentally, Gaddigoudar is in Delhi now. He said he is ready to take up any post given by party leaders. “I have not approached them, neither have they approached me,’’ he said.
Since Gaddigoudar is senior to Udasi, he stands a better chance, sources indicated. However, another senior BJP leader said it would be no surprise if the central leadership chooses a non-Lingayat MP as Union Minister considering that CM B S Yediyurappa too is from the same community.
Speaking to TNSE, Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said that in 2014, four MPs from Karnataka were inducted into the Cabinet - himself, H N Ananth Kumar, G M Siddeshwar and Venkiah Naidu (Rajya Sabha Member). In 2019, he, along with Pralhad Joshi, Nirmala Seetharaman and Angadi were inducted. “We are hoping they will induct one from Karnataka this time too,’’ he added. Another Union Minister from Karnataka, Pralhad Joshi, said when and whom to induct will be decided by Modi and Nadda.
In Delhi, MLA Bellad claims visit was private
Bengaluru: Amid talk of a reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, Dharwad-west MLA Arvind Bellad was in New Delhi on Saturday, sparking off speculation, but he insisted that it was a private visit. Speaking to the media, he said he was not in Delhi to meet the central leaders or in connection with any political developments. Reports in the electronic media that were aired on Saturday morning about the purpose of his visit were not true, he said.
Bellad had recently complained to the BJP central Leadership about the proposed sale of government land to JSW Jindal Steel. MLA C P Yogeeshwara, who had accompanied Bellad to Delhi on an earlier visit, too had cried foul about interference in the government. Party general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Arun Singh, is expected to arrive in Bengaluru on Wednesday and hold a series of meetings over three days.