13 BJP legislators given Cabinet rank in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Thirteen BJP legislators in Karnataka, appointed as the heads of various boards and corporations, were on Wednesday given the Cabinet rank.

According to official notifications, four other legislators have been given the Minister of State rank. The move has come amid the delay in the expansion or reshuffle of the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s cabinet.

According to party sources, this is also being seen as a signal to these legislators that they may not make it to the ministry and an attempt to placate them.

The legislators with Cabinet rank are – M Chandrappa, Aihole Duryodhan Mahalingappa, Nehru Olekar, Narasimha Nayak (Raju Gowda), K Shivanagouda Nayak, Kalakappa Bandi, Shankar Patil Munenakoppa, K Madal Virupakshappa, Siddu Savadi, A S Patil (Nadahalli), Dattatraya C Patil Revoor, P Rajeev and S V Ramachandra.

Those who got the MoS rank are Rajkumar Patil Telkur, C S Niranjan Kumar, AS Jayaram and N Linganna.

The Chief Minister”s media advisor N Bhrungeesh has also been given the cabinet rank.

Yediyurappa has been awaiting nod from the central BJP leadership for the cabinet exercise after party president J P Nadda during their meeting in New Delhi on November 18 asked him to wait for the clearance.

The cabinet expansion or reshuffle is expected to be a tightrope walk for the Chief Minister, considering that there are too many aspirants, from the party old guard to Congress- JD(S) migrants who are now BJP legislators. The cabinet currently has 27 members, and seven berths are vacant.