Karnataka ministry expansion likely next week

  Signs of ending rift in the ruling BJP in Karnataka emerged on Saturday after both warring factions entered into a dialogue over formation of ministry by new Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda amid indications that a full fledged ministry would be in place in a couple of days.

At a meeting convened by Mr. Gowda to end the stalemate, attended by state unit President K S Eswarappa, rebel group leader Jagadish Shettar, former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa’s loyalists Dr V S Acharya and Shobha Karandlaje agreed to finalise names of those to be inducted into the ministry.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Eswarappa said “a full fledged ministry will be in place in a couple of days next week”.

He said discussions were on over creating a Deputy Chief Minister’s post, but a final decision on those to be inducted and also on the Deputy Chief Ministership would be taken tomorrow.

Party sources indicated the new ministers might be sworn-in next Monday or Wednesday.

Mr. Gowda held the meeting under the directive of the party high command, which wanted state leaders to put their heads together and resolve the ministry making crisis in the backdrop of the rebel group led by Mr. Shettar demanding major share of ministerial berths and plum portfolios.

Sources close to Mr. Shettar said the Lingayat leader from North Karnataka, who lost to Mr. Gowda in the race for Chief Minister’s post, is likely to accept the Deputy Chief Minister’s berth, in the event of the party creating the post.

“There is no confusion in the party. There is no groupism. We are all united. There is only one group (BJP). We will resolve all issues. There is no need for High Command intervention”, Mr. Eswarappa said after the meeting at “Anugraha”, the Chief Minister’s official residence.

Sadananda Gowda elected new chief minister of Karnataka

Bangalore: Sadananda Gowda has been elected as the new chief minister of Karnataka.

Bharatiya Janata Party legislators today met to select a successor to outgoing scam-hit chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, with two contenders in the race: Lok Sabha member D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar.

Yeddyurappa and his supporters were backing Gowda while state BJP chief K. S. Eshwarappa and Lok Sabha member and general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar and their group are pitching for Shettar.

Hailing from coastal Karnataka, Sadananda Gowda belongs to the Vokkaliga community, which the Deve Gowda family claims to represent. The Vokkaligas, an agricultural caste, hold sway in the southern districts, and the BJP may see Sadananda Gowda supported by Yeddyurappa a killer combination that brings together the two big vote banks of Karnataka.

Sadananda Gowda is known for his honesty, and that attribute may help the BJP recover some of its dignity in a post-scandal situation. He is now the state BJP president. He has little to no experience in administration.

Gowda, a two-term lawmaker in the state legislative assembly earlier (1994-2004), was also the ruling party's state unit president and led the BJP to power in the state for the first time in the April-May 2008 mid-term assembly poll.

Scam-hit B.S. Yeddyurappa, who resigned as the Bharatiya Janata Party's first chief minister in Karnataka, insisted on Lok Sabha member DV Sadananda Gowda as his successor.

'I have proposed Sadananda Gowda for the post of the new chief minister. It is for the party's high command to decide. I hope Gowda will be acceptable to all,' Yeddyurappa said soon after submitting his resignation letter to state Governor HR Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan amid high drama and a sudden downpour.