By Prajwal Hooli
Bengaluru: The abrupt decision of CM Basavaraj Bommai to fly to Delhi kept cabinet ministers on edge. CM Bommai confirms that he is likely to visit New Delhi on Feb 7 to discuss various developmental plans concerning the Union budget.
There have been speculations on cabinet expansion and revamp from the day CM Bommai took his charge as Chief Minister. It has been six months but the cabinet ministers are yet to be announced. Ministers from different corners of the state are aspiring to bag these seats. A recent political development from the Belagavi district is adding fuel to the CM’s Delhi visit.
However, Bommai termed this visit as a tradition concerning the upcoming state budget. When probed on the cabinet reshuffle, he replied “This is not the right time to discuss and I will not discuss that in public”. The idea behind the upcoming Delhi visit is to have a conjugated discussion on the state budget before presenting.
Although sources say that BJP ministers fear losing their minister chair from the Cabinet as there are many young aspirants in the pipeline. The talk on cabinet revamp has been going on for quite a long time and the CM has been facing high pressure from the opposition and internal committee. Chances are high that the CM gives a conclusion for all ongoing speculations on his Delhi visit.
The Bommai headed cabinet currently has 4 vacancies out of 34 ministers’ seats. There is strong pressure from North Karnataka’s Belagavi’s lobby. Since Belagavi has a high majority, chances are high to fill the vacancies from the same region.
Amidst this, BJP MLA Basavangouda Patil Yatnal lambasted that the party is getting prepared to carry out Gujarat style changes of the Karnataka cabinet by including a young set of ministers for its final year of tenure. This statement from a senior leader had triggered all the existing cabinet ministers.
