Vijayapura: In the Cabinet formation of the BJP government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday August 4, while none of the BJP MLAs from Vijayapura district found place in the new Cabinet, Bagalkot district retained two MLAs Govind Karajol and Murgesh Nirani.
Though the speculation was rife that at least one among the three MLAs of the district – Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, Somanagouda Sasanur and A. S. Patil Nadahalli may get a Cabinet berth, the announcement of the new Cabinet of Bommai listed no name from Bijapur district.
In neighbouring Bagalkot district, Karajol and Nirani succeeded in retaining the Ministry. They were Ministers in B. S. Yediyurappa government too.
As far as Vijayapura is concerned, many political analysts also believed that Bommai may not consider any MLAs from the district in his Cabinet. Among the three BJP MLAs, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal is the only senior MLA, however despite his seniority, he failed to find a place in the Cabinet because of his souring relationship with Yediyurappa and other party leaders.
Yatnal had been openly criticising Yediyurappa and his son Vijayendra. He accused Vijayendra of running the parallel government on the behest of his father. Many local BJP leaders of the district too are not on good terms with Yatnal. Moreover, since Bommai is considered to be a close confidant of Yediyurappa, the former possibly did not wish to anger Yediyurappa by inducting Yatnal in the Cabinet.
It is also reported that many local leaders were also pressurising the party leadership not to consider Yatnal for the Ministry. All these things might have worked to keep Yatnal away from the Cabinet.
Now, when it comes to Sasanur and Nadahalli, the party did not consider them for induction in the cabinet. While Sasanur is said to be not serious about the Ministry, thus his name did not figure out, Nadahalli too was not considered because he joined the BJP only in the last assembly polls. Probably, these are the possible reasons why Vijayapura district remained off Bommai cabinet.
