BSY shows he is boss with portfolio distribution

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, Sep 23: After successfully conducting the first ever major surgery of his 28-month-old Cabinet, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday confidently shuffled portfolios of ministers, sending a strong signal to his detractors that he was in control of the party government.

 

He has changed the portfolios of seven ministers, including that of V S Acharya, and entrusted the key Energy Department, whose annual expenditure is nearly Rs 5,000 crore, to confidante Shobha Karandlaje.

The chief minister has, however, not tried to tinker with the portfolios of the Bellary brothers, reportedly on their request.

Acharya has been divested of the Home Department and moved to lead Higher Education, Planning and Statistics. The Home Department has been entrusted to R Ashok along with his existing Transport portfolio—a move to appease the Vokkaliga community which has been grumbling for not being given adequate representation in the Cabinet.

BJP legislator C T Ravi, a Vokkaliga, has already raised  hue and cry for not being awarded a ministerial berth.

 

He stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony of six ministers on Wednesday morning. For both Shobha and V Somanna, who is the Food and Civil Supplies Minister, it is a re-entry into the Cabinet. The chief minister had kept the Energy Department with himself ever since K S Eshwarappa quit the ministry a few months ago.

Shobha, along with five others, was sworn in as a minister amid a large gathering of party workers at Raj Bhavan. Ministers Janardhana Reddy, Karnuakara Reddy and B Sriramulu, who had pressured Yeddyurappa not to reshuffle the Cabinet, quietly sat through the swearing-in ceremony. Janardhana Reddy promised that he will go along with the party’s decision.

Reddy brothers’ tactics

However, the Reddy brothers’ tactics to prevent Yeddyurappa from changing their portfolios by threatening to revolt seem to have worked since the chief minister has refrained from changing their portfolios. Jagadish Shettar has retained the RD&PR portfolio which was earlier held by Shobha. Altogether, the portfolios of 13 ministers have remained untouched. The chief minister has seven portfolios with him.

All the new six ministers have been given important portfolios. Soon after taking oath the new ministers rushed to Vidhana Soudha and occupied their offices so as to avoid the bad effects of Paksha maasa beginning Thursday afternoon. Yeddyurappa now heads a full-fledged ministry of 34, all of Cabinet rank. As many as five MLCs have made it to the Cabinet.

S A Ravindranath has been stripped of the crucial Agriculture portfolio and the responsibility has been entrusted to Umesh Katti.

The decision to divest Ravindranath of Agriculture was long awaited as his inability to handle the department had put the government in embarrassing situations on several occasions. Ravindranath will head the Sugar and Horticulture Department.

Surprisingly, the chief minister has for the first time given away the sensitive Forest Department, which he had held all these months, to new comer C H Vijayashankar who is considered close to Yeddyurappa.

While Govind Karjole will head the Kannada and Culture Department, the portfolios of three ministers, who are independent MLAs supporting the government, have been changed. Narendraswamy is now Animal Husbandry Minister, D Sudhakar Youth Services and Prisons Minister, and Venkataramanappa Minister for Textiles and Sericulture. Another independent MLA-cum-minister Shivaraj Tangadagi has been moved to take up the Small Scale Industries portfolio. Besides, Tangadagi has retained Agriculture Marketing.

The Lingayat community, to which Yeddyurappa belongs and is viewed as the BJP’s vote bank, dominates the  Cabinet with as many as 11 representatives. The Lingayats are followed by six ministers who belong to other backward castes and SC category. There are four ministers from the Brahmin and three from the Vokkaliga communities. Two ministers represent the ST category and two are from minority communities.


Portfolios of Ministers of the Yeddyurappa Ministry after the expansion today.

B S Yeddyurappa
Chief Minister :-  Department of Cabinet Affairs
- Department of Personnel and dministrative Reforms
- Department of Finance including
- Institutional Finance and excluding
- Excise, Small Savings & Lotteries
- Intelligence Wing from Home Dept
- Urban Development Department
- All subjects pertaining to Bangalore

City excluding BWSSB
- Information from Kannada & Culture
Informatin and Tourism Department
- Mines & Geology from C & I Dept
- Any other Department not specifically llocated
Govind M Karjol :  - Minor Irrigation from Water Resources Department
- Kannada and Culture from Kannada & Culture, Information & Toursim Dept
Dr V S Acharya :   - Higher Education from Education Dept Udasi Channabasappa
Mahalaingappa :    - Public Works Department excluding
Ports and Inland Water Transport
Mumtaz Ali Khan:   - Haj & Wakf from Revenue Department
Minority Welfare from Social Welfare Department
R Ashok :          - Transport Department
Home Department excluding Intelligence Wing and Prisons
S A Ravindranath   - Sugar from Commerce & Industries Department
Horticulture from Agriculture & Horticulture Department
Janaradhan Reddy    - Tourism from Kannada & Culture
Information & Toursim Department Infrastructure Development Dept
Kageri Vishweshwara Hegde               - Primary & Secondary Education from
Education Department excluding Mass Education and Public Libraries
G Karunakara Reddy  - Revenue excluding Muzrai, Haj & Wakf
B N Bachhe Gowda    - Labour Department
Basavaraj Bommai    - Major & Medium Irrigation from Water Resources Department
B Sriramulu         - Health & Family Welfare Department
excluding Medical Education Revu Naik Belamagi  - Mass Educatin and Public Libraries
from Education Department
Small Savings & Lotteries fromFinance Department
Suresh Kumar. S     - Law, Justice & Human Rights
Parliamentary Affairs Legislature Urban Development Dept(City
Corporations, KUWS &DB, KUIDFC
Directorate of Town Planning,
Directorate of Land Transport,
Urban Development Authorities
excluding subjects pertaining to
Bangalore City, BWSSB, CMCs, TMCs,TPs and Local Bodies.
J Krishna Palemar    - Ports and Inland Water Transport
from Public Works Department
Ecology & Environment Department
Muzrai from Revenue Department
Venkataramanappa    - Textiles from C & I Department
Sericulture from C&I Department

DHNS