K'taka cabinet expansion on Feb 6, 13 MLAs will take oath: Yediyurappa

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said the expansion of his ministry will take place on February 6 and 13 MLAs will take the oath of office.

These MLAs include 10 legislators who had joined the BJP from other parties, including the Congress and the JD(S), he said.

Yediyurappa had on January 31 received the nod from his party's central leadership for expanding his six-month-old cabinet.

The exercise has been on the cards ever since the BJP won 12 of the 15 seats in the December 5, 2019, assembly bypolls, helping the Yediyurappa government retain majority in the House.

"The cabinet expansion will take place on February 6 with the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan at 10.30 am," the chief minister told reporters here.

Thirteen MLAs, including 10 who had joined the BJP from other parties, including Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), will take the oath of office, he said.

Currently, there are 18 ministers, including the chief minister, in the cabinet, which has a sanctioned strength of 34. Sixteen berths are vacant.

Earlier, Yediyurappa had said that most of the disqualified JD(S)-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets would be made ministers, but there would not be additional deputy chief ministers.

Though he had given an assurance to all 11 re-elected legislators that they would be made ministers, he said on Sunday that only 10 of them would be made ministers.

The ministry expansion exercise will be a delicate task for Yediyurappa as he has to ensure adequate representation of various castes and regions.

The cabinet already has eight Lingayats, including Yediyurappa; three Vokkaligas; a Brahmin; three SCs, two OBCs and one ST.

Opposition parties have been critical of the BJP and Yediyurappa over the delay in the cabinet expansion, alleging that he is weak and his administration has collapsed.