Amidst intense lobbying from ministerial aspirants and resentment among members of his cabinet for dropping them from the ministry, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa today dropped three ministers and decided to expand his 28-month-old ministry by inducting six members here tomorrow.
The three ministers dropped Gulihatti D Shekar, minister for sports, Shivana Gouda Naik, minister for adult education and Aravinda Limbavali, minister for higher education. Governor H R Bhardwaj has accepted the recommendation of Yeddyurappa to drop the three ministers, a Raj Bhavan communique said.
Though the list of names to be inducted is yet to be finalised by the chief minister, former ministers V Somanna and Shobha Karandlaje are likely to be included, sources in BJP said.
The swearing-in of new ministers has been scheduled at 9:30 am in the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday “I am expanding my ministry tomorrow. The list of those who will be inducted will be finalised by this evening,” Yeddyurappa, who had held a consultation with the party central leadership in Delhi yesterday, told reporters here.
Presently, there are three vacancies in the cabinet. Sources close to Yeddyurappa
had said earlier in the day, he might just fill up the three slots without tinkering with the ministry.
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The reshuffle was preceded by high drama with a minister threatening to commit suicide if he was dropped and threat of resignations by MLAs aspiring for ministerial berths.
“Only ‘lafangeys’ (loafers), thieves, liars and land grabbers have a place in this party and not honest workers,” a four-time BJP legislator from Mysore, H S Shankaralinge Gowda, said after Chief Minister B S Yeddyyurappa told him he was helpless and could not make him a minister.
Meanwhile, the powerful mining barons and ministers, the Reddy bothers, too stepped in to protect loyalists from being dropped from the ministry which assumed office in May 2008. Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy, who was the rallying point for dissidents last year, opposed dropping of independents, including Sports Minister Goolihatti Shekar or Minister for Adult Education Shivana Gouda Naik, who quit JD(S) and joined BJP in 2008.
Shekar had threatened to commit suicide if dropped from the ministry, while Naik has said he would resign his assembly membership.
Karunakara Reddy, minister for revenue asserted the party should not go back on promises made to the five independents and those who quit Congress and JD(S) to join BJP to give the party a majority.
Soon after his return from a US trip, Excise Minister M P Renukacharya, who has been pressing for the induction of Belur Gopalakrishna, held consultations with some MLAs before meeting Yeddyurappa.
Supporters of former minister S N Krishnaiah Setty, who quit last year in the wake of allegations relating to sale of Karnataka Housing Board land, organised a procession to press for his return to the ministry. The reshuffle exercise has triggered resentment among several party MLAs with C T Ravi from Chikmagalur submitting his resignation from Assembly to Eshwarappa. Appacchu Ranjan, MLA from Madikeri district, also resorted to a similar tactic, BJP sources said.