BSY team expansion on cards,chief whip resigns,seeks berth

An imminent Cabinet expansion by Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa threatens to be the latest minefield in the path of the 29-month-old BJP government that has just emerged from over three weeks of instability.

An imminent Cabinet expansion by Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa threatens to be the latest minefield in the path of the 29-month-old BJP government that has just emerged from over three weeks of instability.

With six Cabinet posts lying vacant following the recent bout of dissidence that led to the disqualification of 11 BJP MLAs and five Independents,lobbying has started among BJP legislators to get into Yeddyurappas team.

One aspirant who is not tipped to be in the ministry,D N Jeevaraj,who is chief whip of the party in the Assembly,quit his position on Monday and demanded a ministry outright. Claiming he had spent the longest time in his current position and would now like to be accommodated in the Cabinet,he submitted his resignation to Yeddyurappa and party president K S Eshwarappa.

The resignation of the MLA from the temple town of Sringeri is seen as a pressure tactic amid speculation that his rival from the neighboring Chikamagalur district C T Ravi will in all likelihood be made a minister. If I am not made a minister,I will go back to being just an MLA and serve my constituency, Jeevaraj said.

While the Karnataka Chief Minister,who faced a rebellion last month triggered by MLAs,has not acknowledged the chief whips resignation,he has indicated a possible Cabinet expansion by November 3 or 4.

Among those tipped to be in the Cabinet are Independent MLA Varthur Prakash,whose vote was crucial to the BJP clinching a trust vote on October 14,Narasimha Nayak,a rebel MLA who returned to the BJP fold in time for the trust vote,and loyal BJP workers like C T Ravi,and an MLA from the Tumkur region,S Shivanna.

The Yeddyurappa government has seen two serious rebellions in the last two and a half years that were triggered by the Chief Ministers rivals by utilising the services of MLAs who were upset at not being accommodated in the Cabinet.