ON AUGUST 20, more than three weeks after B.S. Yediyurappa was sworn in as chief minister, 17 ministers were inducted into the Karnataka cabinet. The state can have a maximum of 34 ministers, which leaves space for 16 more.
Though the BJP formed the government thanks to the rebel MLAs who resigned from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), the party still does not have a comfortable majority in the assembly—it has 106 of 207 seats. The former speaker disqualified 17 rebel MLAs under the anti-defection law, reducing the strength of the assembly from 224. The rebel MLAs have challenged the speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court.
As of now, the cabinet composition indicates that the next expansion would be reserved for the rebel MLAs. Their future, however, depends on the Supreme Court verdict. If the court upholds the speaker’s ruling, the rebels cannot contest byelections till the end of this assembly’s term—May 2023. But if the court allows them to contest, the ones who win could get into the cabinet.
For the past few weeks, Yediyurappa had been forced to run a one-man cabinet as the BJP’s central leadership was occupied with abrogating Article 370. On August 18, though, the higher-ups gave the nod after discussing the names of probables for weeks. The secrecy of the process hinted that with a strong leadership at the Centre, Yediyurappa’s current stint as chief minister would be quite different from the one in 2008.
At 76, the Lingayat strongman is walking a tightrope. With the state reeling under floods and with total damages estimated to be worth 01 lakh crore, Yediyurappa is hoping for a huge interim relief package from the Centre. The impending portfolio allocation and cabinet expansion are also big challenges. He would have to accommodate the rebel MLAs in the cabinet, which would irk BJP loyalists.
The wafer-thin majority of the BJP government-will continue to threaten its stability, unless it bags enough seats in the byelections. Several BJP leaders, including six-time MLA Umesh Katti, are already miffed at being excluded from the cabinet.
Yediyurappa’s current cabinet has a mix of first-time ministers and experienced leaders, while the regional balance seems to have tilted towards Bengaluru and Mumbai Karnataka. The Lingayats, who are the BJP’s core vote bank, have got eight of the 18 berths (including yediyurappa). The Vokkaligas and scheduled castes have three each, while the Brahmins, Kurubas, Edigas and scheduled tribes have one each.
Among the seniors in the cabinet are former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and two former deputy chief ministers. Three-time MLAs J.C. Madhuswamy, C.N. Ashwath Narayan and Prabhu Chauhan are first-time ministers. As is two-time MLA Shashikala Jolle, who is also the sole woman minister. Kota Srinivasa Poojary is the only MLC.
Interestingly, Laxman Savadi—a former minister who lost the Athani seat in the 2018 elections—was given a cabinet berth, though two sitting MLAs from Belagavi were ministerial aspirants.
H. Nagesh, an independent MLA, became a minister for the second time; his first stint ended in a month, after he withdrew support from the H.D. Kumaraswamy government.