Top BJP leaders put Karnataka cabinet expansion in cold storage for now

Bengaluru: The BJP central leadership apparently has put the cabinet expansion of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in cold storage for now.

Party sources said that Bommai had briefed JP Nadda about the discontentment among ministerial aspirants and a couple of ministers' unhappiness over their portfolios.

However, the party president has postponed the cabinet expansion issue to four to five months, according to the sources.

The meeting between Bommai and Nadda lasted 20 minutes. Bommai was in Delhi and he met the BJP chief before returning to Karnataka yesterday.

An intermittent discontentment within BJP has been brewing up with several legislators expressing their displeasure over being left out of the cabinet.

Among the disgruntled legislators are SA Ramdass, MP Renukacharya, CP Yogeeshwara, Ramesh Jarkiholi, and Shrimant Patil.

Jarkiholi, Yogeeswara and Patil are lobbying for ministerial berths with the central leadership by frequently visiting Delhi.

A couple of ministers, including MTB Nagaraj and Anand Singh, are discontented with their portfolios.

Singh, however, has been most vociferous, and had hinted at resigning from the minister's post and assembly membership.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bommai said it was a courtesy call and discussed ways to strengthen the party in the state.

Bommai could not meet Nadda during his last visit because the party national president was unavailable due to personal issues. (UNI)