Basavaraj Bommai heads to Delhi; will K S Eshwarappa and Ramesh Jarkiholi return to Karnataka cabinet?

Bommai said he would attend a meeting chaired by BJP national president J P Nadda. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other national leaders will also take part in it. Discussions on the Assembly polls will feature in the meeting along with a cabinet expansion.

Though the number of ministerial aspirants has dwindled as the elections are mere months away, a handful have remained hopeful that they will be back as ministers before the polls. Eshwarappa, who was the panchayat raj and rural development minister, was forced to resign in April 2022 after an FIR was registered against him over the suicide of a civil contractor. The contractor, Santosh Patil from Belagavi, had accused him of demanding a 40 per cent commission to clear his pending bills.

Jarkiholi resigned as water resources minister in March 2021 after a sleaze tape was leaked to news TV channels. A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to inquire into the allegations levelled by a woman who was filmed in the tape in a compromising position with Jarkiholi. The SIT, however, gave a clean chit to Jarkiholi in February, after which he has met several top BJP leaders to ensure that he is inducted again.

While any talk of a cabinet expansion was in the past met with demands from several ministerial hopefuls, there has not been any such widespread demand this time around. BJP sources say that Eshwarappa and Jarkiholi, who are both treating their return to the cabinet as a prestige issue, are likely to be inducted in January 2023.

One of the main reasons why the two leaders could be accommodated, according to sources, is that these disgruntled leaders could play spoilsport and hurt the party’s prospects in 10-15 constituencies if their demands are not met. “Leaders of the party realise that they are fighting a very tight election. They want to avoid antagonising any prominent leader ahead of the elections as it could send a wrong message to the communities they represent and hurt the BJP’s prospects,” a source said.