Yediyurappa to expand his cabinet on August 20

For now, only 15 out of the 34 cabinet berths will be filled

B.S. Yediyurappa pti B.S. Yediyurappa | PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa has finally received the go-ahead from the BJP leadership for expanding his cabinet.

Yediyurappa has called for the BJP legislature party meeting on Tuesday at 10 am, after which the swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers will take place, according to the CMO.

After nearly 22 days, Yediyurappa, who had been functioning as one-man army even in the face of the devastating floods that affected 22 out of 30 districts in the state, will finally get 15 ministers on board to assist him.

Even as all the BJP MPs and MLAs had formed teams for relief works in the flood-hit areas, the absence of district in-charge ministers appeared to have slowed down the relief works.

Amid the growing criticism of the opposition parties over the delay in cabinet expansion, Yediyurappa, who was camping in Delhi for the past couple of days, finally managed to hold deliberations with the BJP top brass and got the nod for expansion.

The chief minister finalised the list of ministers after holding consultations with party national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh.

For now, only 15 out of the 34 cabinet berths will be filled. The remaining vacancies will be filled up soon after the fate of the 17 disqualified MLAs (14 of the Congress and three of the JD(S)) will be decided by the Supreme Court. The rebels have petitioned the apex court, challenging the Karnataka assembly speaker's move to disqualify them even after they had tendered their resignation. 

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