Amidst speculation over the possibility of a Ministerial expansion or reshuffle, several Ministerial aspirants, including veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa’s son B.Y. Vijayendra, have been camping in the national capital, while Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reached there on Tuesday evening. Lobbying for berths in the Cabinet has intensified, even though there is no confirmation that there will be an expansion yet.
While there are four vacancies in the Ministry, speculations are rife that the party may drop four to six Ministers to accommodate new faces ahead of elections. This has pushed several Ministers also to rush to New Delhi to lobby hard to retain their berths, sources said. M.P. Renukacharya, Shankar Patil Munenakoppa, Murugesh Nirani, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Srimath Patil are among the BJP leaders camping in Delhi. Several other leaders, including Jagadish Shettar, are expected to reach the national capital by Wednesday, sources said.
Mr. Bommai has sought the appointment of both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J.P. Nadda on Wednesday. “His programme is open for Wednesday, as neither appointments have been confirmed yet. But we are confident that he will meet both leaders, if not at least Mr. Nadda,” a senior official said. This Delhi trip comes in the wake of Mr. Shah’s recent visit to the State where he held a core committee meeting, where poll preparations were discussed.
