BJP govt is against verdict of people: Ivan D'Souza

Bengaluru: Congress leader Ivan D’Souza on Tuesday said that this is the first time in the history of Karnataka that three deputy Chief Ministers have been appointed.

“This is the first time in the history of Karnataka that three deputy Chief Ministers have been appointed. I believe that this decision is not taken by B S Yediyurappa but by the RSS. The direction of distributing the portfolios have come from Nagpur. This government is against the verdict of the people,” he was quoted speaking to ANI.

“If former Chief Jagdish Shettar has any self-respect he should resign and leave the government. How can he work under his juniors. If you are working for the people, you should have self-confidence. He must come out and resign,” he added.

In a first, Karnataka will have three deputy chief ministers as Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday, August 26 allocated portfolios to 17 newly appointed ministers who were inducted into the Cabinet nearly a week ago.

Among the three deputy chief ministers (DCMs)are Govind Karjol, who has also been given the charge of PWD and Social welfare; Ashwath Narayan the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology; and Laxman Savadi with Transport department.

More than three weeks after he was sworn in as the Chief Minister, Yediyurappa had expanded his cabinet on August 20 by inducting 17 Ministers.

Though the expansion brought an end the nearly month long wait for the cabinet to take shape, it led to some heartburn in a section of the party as several MLAs continued to make no secret of their displeasure after missing the bus.