Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not expanding the Karnataka Cabinet as it is avoiding appointing the son of its senior leader BS Yediyurappa.
"Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is not expanding the cabinet as he is avoiding giving a ministerial position to the son of Yediyurappa. Another reason for not expanding the cabinet and keeping multiple portfolios with himself is the increasing acceptance of bribes here," Siddaramaiah said adding that Yediyurappa has been wrongly treated by the BJP.
He alleged that the BJP wrongfully colluded with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to remove Siddaramiah from the post of Chief Minister and replaced him with Basvaraj Bommai.
"Bommai is not expanding the cabinet to avoid giving a ministerial position to Yediyurappa's son as the cabinet is not expanded. That is why there is a difference between Yediyurappa and Bommai. It has been more than a year and a half since the Chief Minister kept many portfolios with him without expanding the cabinet. However, the volume is not expanding. Bommai holds around eight portfolios including Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), Bangalore Urban Development and Finance," he said addressing the mediapersons.
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{{/usCountry}}He also said that CM Bommai holds almost one-fourth of the accounts.
Notably, CM Bommai has said multiple times that the discussions regarding the cabinet expansion with party's high command are currently underway, however, no such exercise has taken place so far.
Karnataka is likely to undergo Assembly elections in April-May 2023 to elect all 224 members of the Legislative Assembly.
Notably, Karnataka is the only southern state where the BJP is in power.
It is pertinent to mention that the party made a leadership change in July 2018, replacing the then-chief minister BS Yediyurappa with Basavaraj Bommai.
Even though Yediyurappa is no longer in power, the former chief minister is the tallest Lingayat leader. Lingayats are the single largest community in Karnataka, account for nearly 17 per cent of the population, mostly in the north Karnataka region, and has traditionally voted for the BJP. He was recently appointed a member of the party's top organizational body--the parliamentary board.