Karnataka: CM Yediyurappa makes changes in Cabinet to contain dissent

The changes were made less than a day after his government distributed and reshuffled several portfolios among ministers who were sworn in on January 13

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday caved into ministers’ demands, and made changes to his Cabinet by re-distributing portfolios to calm tempers.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa. (ANI)

The changes were made less than a day after his government distributed and reshuffled several portfolios among ministers who were sworn in on January 13.

The move leaves the 77-year-old chief minister vulnerable to more such demands from disgruntled elements within his two-year-old government, which is already rattled by dissent.

JC Madhuswamy, who was stripped of minor irrigation, law and parliamentary affairs was given the Haj and Wakf department along with his earlier-allotted medical education.

K.Gopalaiah, a turncoat minister who helped Yediyurappa to power along with 16 other legislators, was handed the excise department.

N Nagaraju (MTB), one of the several people who had openly against the initial choice of portfolios, was made minister for municipal administration and sugarcane development, in addition to his earlier departments.

Yediyurappa divested from his own kitty and handed planning, programme monitoring and the statistics department to KC Narayana Gowda.

Arvind Limbavali, a legislator who helped secure the support of the turncoats, was given Kannada and culture portfolio in addition to the forest department.

Several legislators who were overlooked have also started holding meeting among themselves to decide the next course of action to be heard by the party’s central leadership.