[1]With three lists of ministerial hopefuls being prepared by bigwigs in the BJP before the much awaited Cabinet expansion, the party leadership is likely to face a torrid time in selecting nominees for the 11 vacancies. The three lists—being prepared by Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, party state president, K.S. Eshwarappa and former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa— will be discussed by the BJP top brass in consultation with party general secretary Ananth Kumar. The emphasis will be on ensuring that it does not lead to another bout of dissident activity, sources said.
Meanwhile, pressure for expanding the Cabinet is building up with the C.T. Ravi camp receiving support for the exercise. The expansion may be effected sometime in mid-May. The camp. which had obtained the signatures of 48 MLAs till Wednesday, got the support of 17 more on Thursday. They obtained two appointments with party chief Eshwarappa to hand over a memorandum but decided to postpone this on realising that more MLAs may sign the memorandum
Sources said Eshwarappa himself is behind the signature campaign and going by indications, the memorandum may get the backing of over 80 MLAs. Reason: Another 15-20 MLAs have expressed their desire to sign it. Apart from early Cabinet expansion, the group is urging senior leaders to relieve some ministers who were part of the earlier BJP-JD(S) government and the present government. This could see the exit of many BSY loyalists—something Eshwarappa would be quite happy about.
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