New Delhi/Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who has now postponed his Delhi trip to next week, is likely to seek the okay from BJP chief Amit Shah to induct two more Deputy Chief ministers along with eleven rebels who have won as his cabinet colleagues.
If given a go-ahead, this will be unique with a Chief Minister having five deputy Chief ministers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won twelve out of fifteen seats in the recent Karnataka bypoll and its time to reward them, who helped topple the JDS-Congress government.
This August, Yediyurappa had appointed Govind Makthappa Karajol, Ashwath Narayan CN and Laxman Sangappa Savadi as the deputy chief ministers, which again was first of its kind move in the state.
Speculation about adding two Deputies to the council of Ministers has been going on since September. Sources say, this is to balance the caste equation.
Once two new Deputy CMs are approved and sworn in, the cabinet will have equal representation from all the five major communities. One out of the two proposed Deputy Chief Ministers are expected to be from the Scheduled Tribe.
While this may be seen as the Karnataka Chief Minister’s ‘please-all’ policy, insiders believe this is a conscious step by the Lingayat leader to broaden his base beyond the Lingayat community.
If the two new chief ministers happen to be from ST and Kuruba community, the Karnataka Chief Minister will be able to give representation to 70 percent of the Karnataka population in the form of Deputy Chief Ministers.
But the final decision rests with party President Amit Shah.
Yediyurappa had to postpone his Delhi trip to next week, owing to BJP President and Union Home Minister’s preoccupation with the ongoing situation in the Northeast after the Citizenship Amendment bill was passed, in Parliament.
