The much-awaited cabinet expansion would be delayed further in view of the belligerent stand adopted by former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa that he would participate in core committee meetings only after the party’s central leaders take a decision on the leadership issue. Sources close to the beleaguered leader said Mr. Yeddyurappa reportedly told state unit leaders that he would not be party to the proceedings of the committee or administrative decisions taken by Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda till central leaders take a call on the leadership issue. His stand forced general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Dharmendra Pradhan, to call off his visit to Bengaluru to discuss the issue of expansion of the cabinet, while another member of the core committee, Satish, left for New Delhi without the list of potential candidates to be inducted into the cabinet. Therefore, it would take at least a fortnight for the leaders to discuss the induction of new faces into the cabinet, the sources added.
The former chief minister’s terse message was conveyed to state unit leaders when they invited him to attend another core committee meeting to discuss expansion of cabinet and other administrative matters. The sources maintained that Mr Yeddyurappa was optimistic that the Supreme Court would not accept the recommendation of Central Empowered Committee (CEC) for a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into mining cases against him. In the event of such a development, it would be easier for him to revive his long-standing demand for reinstatement as Chief Minister.
The sources close to former Chief Minister maintained that, BSY is optimistic about Supreme Court decision on CEC recommendation. If Supreme Court rejects CEC recommendation for CBI probe against him in mining related land scams, it would be easy for accelerate his effort to come back to chief minister’s post, sources said. Meanwhile, sources in the party said a core committee meeting sans the former chief minister held at Mr Sadananda Gowda’s residence on Tuesday failed to arrive at a consensus with one of the members suggesting that the exercise of cabinet expansion be put off till the Supreme Court decides on the CEC report against Mr Yeddyurappa.